Holland America Line Reviews 

Crowded common areas. No space in the lounges. Ship full of cranky, old and obese people. Terrible entertainment- not real fun ship. We had money and things stolen from our room.

The food was terrific, staff wonderful, ship beautiful! Disliked SMOKING in the Casino actually HORRIBLE! On our 9 day cruise when out to sea very LITTLE to do. The BBKING & Rolling Stones lounge was way too loud and not the type of music for the majority of the passengers that travel on Holland America. There weren’t any lounges with soft listening music.

The excursion we booked had lots of issues, including the size of the bus they were using for us. 30 people on a trolley designed for 25? The drivers were telling us that a large bus was available but management told them to bring the smaller trolley bus. Two people caught a ride in the personal vehicle of one of the employee's to get to the mission. Not a great service and HAL only wants to discount us 25% because we have the "have it all package". Service is everything in this business, and with this kind of and with this response from the boat, why would we want to sail with them again?

Update:
The corporate office approved another $100 excursion credit asl long as we are on a cruise in a year. With this level of service, I will not travel with them again. On any cruise in the future, maybe, but within a year after what we went through, we will have to pass. I have traveled three times with this cruise line, seems like there is always something but for the amount of money we are spending, customer service should be king.

Great routes, great staff, good service, but you're going to get sick. "We're not allowed to ask someone who is obviously sick to isolate, wear a mask, or even cover their cough." That was the restaurant manager, also echoed by the cruise director in almost the exact words. Obviously a Carnival policy. They have policies in place to isolate and wear a mask if you are sick, and even call 911. But they do not enforce any of their policies. Over half the passengers and crew were sick by the end of our 31 day cruise. They failed to take even the most basic precautions to protect the health of their passengers and crew.

This review is about Holland America’s “Have it All” package. I’m currently on an HAL cruise with Have it All (HIA).

There is MUCH fine print with this package you should be aware of before buying it.

Drinks - HIA includes only drinks up to $11 (US) in cost. Many cocktails are more than this, and you must pay the difference- usually only a few dollars so not a big deal. The ONLY resealable water sold on the ship is not included in HIA. Only poptop cans of water are included. No water or drinks of any kind from the room minibar are included. When you get drinks you are usually presented w an invoice to sign which requests an “additional” tip on top of what is already added (and covered by HIA if the total is less than $11. I don’t know if the added tip is covered.

WiFi - this is limited to one device at a time. If you have a phone and a tablet, you must log out of one and in to the other to switch. Inconvenient but not a huge deal. Some web activity seems to be blocked with a message you must upgrade to a “Premium“ WiFi package for more $$.

None of this is necessarily a deal breaker, but just a bit of a hassle and not clearly disclosed when you consider this pricey package. On board, customers refer to the package as “Have some of it, but not it All”.

We sailed for 7 weeks throughout Asia. We immediately advised HAL through our Neptune concierge about our flooded room - the beginning of our journey - and got $500. Really.

Beyond the age of the Noordam and Westerdam we found so many issues that we made a very long list of items during the two back-to-back cruises. We are now 4-star Mariners and have enjoyed a long and (prior to these sailings) impeccably perfect stays with HAL.

They have changed/dropped many of our favorite perks and the Nav App they are using is flawed in many ways, not least of which is not being integrated with the spa. However, beyond the fairly shabby condition of the ships, our overriding issues are with a serious reduction of their historically awesome service, the number/price of surcharges, the lack of availability of food 24/7 and the HORRIBLE Lido food.

There were numerous logistics issues which caused delays, frustrations and cancellations of shore excursions which we felt were inexcusable. There ARE some good things such as the spa staff, the generally excellent entertainment, and the guest lecturers.

...And don't get us started on the shore excursions (consistently overpriced and underdelivered).

I should have read the reviews here before booking. They advertise cruise with plenty of excursions. After I booked, literally the next day, I have discovered that they are mostly booked out. No prior warning on their website!
Not only the list of offered tours is much smaller then advertised, but also on most days, there is nothing left at all. I have never experienced anything like this. Basically, it is a scam.
Not to mention, their website is a total rubbish - 500 errors, access denied errors, non working phone numbers, you cannot even pay for a WIFI package.

We are booked on an upcoming cruise, and it is impossible to navigate their website or their Navigator app on any device or browser even with cleared cache. Results are continuously glitchy, Error 500 messages, spinning, and the list goes on. Reaching out to address these issues results in total non-answers or passing the buck attitudes. Very poor customer service with archaic IT functions. I hope this is not indicative of their onboard experience!

The company should not confiscate the deposit amount ($175) like what happened with me, because I canceled my booking. That is a theft.

I haven't boarded the ship yet and I'm wondering whether I should.
On 20 February I emailed a list of questions to the HAL Australian representative (after asking for assistance with the website since 1 February). I still haven't received all the answers. I have stated numerous times that the links on the Australian website are not working and I want the information before I pay a deposit. The representatives are obviously not trained sufficiently to answer my queries, so they ignore them.
I'm hoping the on shore customer service is not an indication of the service on board the ship.
I wonder if the HAL executives ever read these reviews?

For being a premium cruise line, Holland America was a very big disappointment in so many ways.

Let’s start out talking about the food. The food was quite mediocre at best. The buffet had the same selection every day on our seven day Caribbean cruise. The quality of the buffet food was very poor, even compared to Carnival Cruise Line. Their burgers were dry, flavorless, and not enjoyable to say the least the pizza toppings with slight off at the bite of every slice the main dining room service was cold, slow, and the food was quite bland, and always served with hard, cold bread that has been sitting on the table throughout dinner service. The café where you order specialty coffee from, start serving hot breakfast at 11:30 AM, which is by far the most confusing menu I’ve encountered. This café also has a bar beside it, however, to order a bar drink, you must stand in line where people are ordering coffee.

The bar service was bad, slow, crowded and not personable. Each bar has its own cocktail menu unique to that location, each menu list only six cocktails at the most, most of which are more expensive than a drink package will cover. Even a piña colada is not covered entirely by the drink package! The quality and taste of these drinks by far do not reflect the price, nor are most of them enjoyable.

The entertainment, or lack of, is dreary, unimaginative, boring, And very crowded. The small venues on the ships, although, quaint, by far cannot accommodate the number of passengers on these ships. I know Holland America line nice to keep the atmosphere, quiet and relaxed, however, it’s clear by the more than full entertainment venues that most, if not all passengers are looking for some exciting entertainment, at least some nights on the ship.

The crew on board are very robotic and not the most welcoming crew. I have experienced on other lines. Most will greet you with a blank stare, and you will have to make the first greeting at almost all venues we’ve been to, especially in the main dining room. Our cabin steward, however, was very nice and did a wonderful job.

There are many aspects of this cruise that were very disorganized, which is extremely surprising since Holland America, pride itself, as being one of the oldest cruise lines in the industry. For example, a couple wanted to sit at the same table each night, and share their meal with the same shipmates. The seating hostess was not able to accommodate and looked very confused when asked of this request. The tendering process in Grand Cayman was extremely slow, chaotic, and disorganized.

The state rooms are nicely appointed, however, they were pretty small compared to even carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess.

They seem like small annoyances, but when you pay premium prices for a so-called premium line, the expectations should be higher in all aspects. The service, the food, the drinks, the entertainment have all lacked tremendously in comparison to cruise lines that are not considered premium.

Hi all I am having trouble with this cruise line, the call centres are so unhelpful, they have sent me a notification to book experiences for my cruise by you can't book them they are mucking me around like no one cares. you call the booking centre no one gives a dame maybe I should just cancel the whole trip with them and I will be expecting them to pay my upfront costs as why should I pay when they are not able to provide a decent web site or booking call centre

The cruises are fabulous. I find the staff to be amazing. I am a bit shy of being a five star Mariner, having taken 11 cruises this year.
With that being said, the call center is probably the most undertrained combative group of folks I have ever in my life embarked upon. No one appears they know what is going on, and therefore transfers you from person to person with no success. Even when transferred to the “resolution” department they can not follow through either. I have never experienced this with any other company. The frustration of booking is often in not worth taking the cruise.
It is not only frustrating, but time consuming and anxiety provoking.

TRIED TO DOWNLOAD THE NAVIGATOR APP. FOR ANDROID AND FOUND IT WILL NOT LOAD ON MY PHONE. IT APPEARS THEY MODIFIED THE APP. SO THAT YOU NEED A G5 PHONE AND DON'T SUPPORT THE OLDER PHONES ANYMORE. THEIR RESPONSE WAS {TOUGH LUCK) FOR ME TO BUY A NEW PHONE.CANNOT USE THE PHONE TO MANAGE THE SHIP DATA OR WORK ON THE SHIP. PRINCESS WISED UP AND PUT AN OPERATING SYSTEM ON THE WEBSITE FOR THOSE THAT DON'T USE THE PHONE.

It has been 3 months my luggage is with them, it was in my room, not something that was missing. They don't reply to any emails. The Guest Relations department are terrible, they are not professional or trained about the alphabetic of customer service. You call their number and the automated machine says the number is unavailable at the moment, I have tried calling them more than 50 times.

Website to book excursions and make spa reservations doesn’t work well. I needed to call in for everything I booked. Not off to a great start.

Beware!!! This company is made up of a bunch of thieves. My friend travelled with them from Sydney to New Zealand and the staff stole his luggage. BOOKING No. 2QHRGN. We have been trying to get it back for the last 2 months and they won't give it back!! They even said they have located it after we filed a missing report but they won't let us know when and where to pick it up. They ignore our emails and the phone lines never work. They have 2 contact numbers and each one directs you to the other. They won't respond to emails. We have tried everything possible and now we are taking legal action, we have also made a formal complaint with the Australian Consumer and Business Services. Ref No. 230443. We will never let it go, this company must be held accountable!

The customer service is pathetic. Spent countless time and calls trying to book two cabins and just went round and round. Went to Royal and it was done in 10 minutes. I cannot imagine what it would be like disputing mystery charges as so many say they have gotten.
It is a line in decline which is now in Free Fall.

We are very experienced Cruisers across many continents and many cruise Lines. This was our first - and last - one month cruise with Holland-America on the Westerdam. This is a small & old ship that is outdated in every respect. The Dining hours were extremely early. The Bars had little life. The Shows were very poor and all lacking 'live' supporting musicians & therefore most evening the theatres were half-empty with little ambience. The advertised wine lists were unavailable - originally providing a choice of 14 wines but actually only 8 - therefore the Guest had a far reduced choice. The pricing was absurd, totally rip-off. The food, although well prepared & presented, was boringly, monotonously, repetitively ordinary. The verandah cabin was good but on 3 separate occasions the toilets did not flush. One of the Lido deck pool toilets did not function - for 3 weeks - unbelievable. All these comments (and others) were written & communicated directly to Guest services - and a very simple auto, polite acknowledgement was received - but no face-to-face meeting or apology. Poor Marketing. It is ALWAYS professional marketing to reply & respond to constructive comments. This cruise Line is evidently not capable of this. Not recommended.

We have not even started our holiday and I am already unimpressed with the standard of customer care. I have learned since getting our documents a few days ago that we have to disembark the ship by 0930 on the day we return to port, even though our flights are not until 2135 that night. There is no late disembarkation therefore we, OAPs will be sitting around in Miami airport for 10-11 hours before our flight home. It took 4 phone calls to ascertain this information and Holland America could only suggest we pay for one of their excursions to keep us occupied for 4 hours. I cannot believe this. We have cruised many times and always been able to spend the last day on the ship, sometimes we have been able to use a cabin for a nominal charge. With Holland America it seems we will be put off the ship and left with nothing to do but sit in an airport for hours before a long haul flight home. I know now that I will not ever book with them again….and I am actually now dreading this trip if this is the standard of care they show their customers.