Holland American forever

[TravelAbby]

My husband and I sailed on the Noordam in April and he was so taken by the ship and the staff I think this is going to be our line choice from now on.
Next winter we would like to do a 14 day carribean cruise and I suggested
the Sea Princess as it has a better itinerary. My DH would not consider it so it's the 2/2 cruise on the Veendam from Tampa. We sailed on the Ryndam and the Statendam years ago but never the Veendam. Have these ships been upgraded to the standards of the Noordam? I guess it is bread pudding every winter LOL.

[pxn748]

We have never sailed on the Noordam, so I can't really compare, but we were on the Veendam the first week in April, so I feel like I can comment on it at least.
We had a very enjoyable western Caribbean cruise and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The service and food in the Pinnacle grill was excellent, the food in the Rotterdam room was very good, and the Lido was also good. Our cabin steward was friendly and kept everything nice and neat. The spa was nice--though neither one of us are really spa people--.
We had a verandah room, sorry don't know the class but it was 6131, almost all the way to the back. It was very convenient to the pool on deck 10, the Lido deck, and the Rotterdam room. But we never heard noise form the pool or the library right below us. That is the main reason we took that cabin because we thought it would be quiet, but it turned out to be very good location also.
One thing we liked a lot was that the ship was not so big that it took a long time to get anywhere.
The staff was all very friendly and helpful, and the decor was nice but not overdone.
Hope that helps
Philip

[Candy]

After 6 Zuiderdam cruises we took a Caribbean Princess last week (only because Zuidy is in Alaska) and were very disappointed in the service, somewhat disappointed with the ship. We can't wait to get back on a Vista ship.

Candy the ZuiderPrincess <-- has to wait for November

[NapTown Jim]

I have recently returned from my first ever cruise. I had been so impressed by everything from service to the ship to the food that Holland America is at the top of my list of cruiselines now. The wife has sailed on Carnival and NCL and she said she thought the food & service was best on HAL compared to the other two. She did say one thing that confused me though. She said I had to experience a 3000 passenger ship. If we have a great time on an S class ship with only 1300 pax, then why do we really need to have a go at a 3000 pax monster? I reckon the Vistas are plenty big enough. The Maasdam was fantastic. I will write my thoughts on this cruise in my own ameteur review later tonight perhaps.

[jhannah]

I understand the sense of wanderlust that would make one want to try one of the behemoths just to see what it's like. But I agree with your rationale. If you find the experience you like with 1300 pax ships, why tempt fate?

[mrskmirolla]

NapTownJim,

We did take the plunge and tried the Zuiderdam to the Eastern Caribbean last September. We are glad we tried but we both prefer the S class, easy to get around and less people. My husband dosen't like crowds I would hate to think what would happen if we went on a really big one.

We were on the Rotterdam last May and when we were in port we met some people that were on that huge Princess ship and they didn't like it at all they said it was too big and never knew which way they were going on it. They asked us about the Rotterdam and we told them we loved it and we loved all of the HAL ships that they really made you feel special. We took a Princess about 20 years ago and there was no comparison, HAL by far is just the best, sorry never been on anything else other than NCL and that is definitely no compaison.

We always recommend HAL, in fact we are leaving in 4 days for the Maasdam and we can hardly wait!!

Kathy

[bepsf]

Have these ships been upgraded to the standards of the Noordam?

Yes, although Veendam is a bit smaller in some areas - such as the spa/T-pool - you'll find similar rooms and familiar amenities that you enjoyed on Noordam.

Enjoy!

[noblepa]

We've never sailed on the Noordam, but my wife and I just came off a seven day, Mexican Riviera cruise on the Oosterdam, sister to the Noordam. Last year, we did a seven day western caribbean trip on the Veendam.

As Brian mentioned, some of the public areas on the S class ships are a little smaller, because of fewer passengers. The cabins, IMHO, are very comparable. The service and atmosphere were very similar as well.

One thing that I found strange. It may just be my imagination, but the casino on the Oosterdam seemed to be much smaller than the one on the Veendam. Neither was overcrowed, though.

We've been on one large ship, the Carnival Glory, before we discovered HAL and the Veendam. The Glory is a 110,000 ton, 3,000 passenger monster. It was entirely too crowded. I would be very reluctant to sail in her again.

The Oosterdam, while larger than the Veendam, did not feel nearly as crowded as the Glory. Overall, the Veendam gets the edge over the Oosterdam, due to its smaller size and passenger compliment, but we would not hesitate to sail in either of them again, or any other HAL ship.

We found that there was just as much to do on the Veendam as the Oosterdam; there were just fewer people doing it.

Paul Noble

[Tricia724]

The wife has sailed on Carnival and NCL and she said she thought the food & service was best on HAL compared to the other two. She did say one thing that confused me though. She said I had to experience a 3000 passenger ship. If we have a great time on an S class ship with only 1300 pax, then why do we really need to have a go at a 3000 pax monster?

Did your wife have a glint in her eye when she said that? The only thing I think that would result from your trying a big ship like that would be to make you come runnnnnnnning back to the smaller ships.

I tried RCCL's Explorer OTS in February....3,256 passengers onboard. It was an interesting experience with many nice moments, and I'm glad I tried it because now I know what the big ship experience is like. But there were just way too many people for me. The buffet was just a whirlwind of activity, and tendering was a headache. Their main advantage is more activities....if that is important to you. I expected better entertainment.....but I didn't find it.

No more ships that size for me

[jimmy2x]

My husband and I sailed on the Noordam in April and he was so taken by the ship and the staff I think this is going to be our line choice from now on.
Next winter we would like to do a 14 day carribean cruise and I suggested
the Sea Princess as it has a better itinerary. My DH would not consider it so it's the 2/2 cruise on the Veendam from Tampa. We sailed on the Ryndam and the Statendam years ago but never the Veendam. Have these ships been upgraded to the standards of the Noordam? I guess it is bread pudding every winter LOL.

Check that date - Veendam is sailing on 2/4/2007. We are on that sailing along with another couple. Did the 14 day itineary earlier this year on the Ryndam and loved it enough to return in 2007.

[Qualicum]

Just did a short 3 day re-positioning from San Diego to Vancouver. We are experienced cruisers but did this one to introduce our friends to cruising. We were very disappointed. Everything we had read about Holland America had led us to expect superior service, a superior dining experience, friendlier staff and an all-round more up-scale cruise. Non of this was true on this cruise. The food was barely average, the service was cursory at best, the staff was not friendly- in fact if you saw an officer, you never got a hello and a smile like we have experienced on other lines. The best thing was our cabin which was very comfortable, a good size and best of all included the most fantastic bed I have ever slept in. All 750 of us who boarded in San Diego were fill-ins for the passengers that disembarked after a 14 day Panama cruise. I heard a number of the new passengers say they felt like they were just that - fill-ins. It is hard to explain without experiencing it, but I know we were not the only ones who felt let down. We won't be back to Holland America again.

[cruznon]

Sorry to hear of your disappointment in your HAL cruise.

[bepsf]

Just did a short 3 day re-positioning from San Diego to Vancouver. We are experienced cruisers but did this one to introduce our friends to cruising. We were very disappointed. Everything we had read about Holland America had led us to expect superior service, a superior dining experience, friendlier staff and an all-round more up-scale cruise. Non of this was true on this cruise. The food was barely average, the service was cursory at best, the staff was not friendly- in fact if you saw an officer, you never got a hello and a smile like we have experienced on other lines. The best thing was our cabin which was very comfortable, a good size and best of all included the most fantastic bed I have ever slept in. All 750 of us who boarded in San Diego were fill-ins for the passengers that disembarked after a 14 day Panama cruise. I heard a number of the new passengers say they felt like they were just that - fill-ins. It is hard to explain without experiencing it, but I know we were not the only ones who felt let down. We won't be back to Holland America again.

I'm so sorry you had a bad experience on Ryndam. Seems that I rarely hear super-good things from folks on shorter itineraries (3-4 days) aboard even the best ships as the staff/crew just can't seem get settled in (memorizing your names and drink preferences, for example) like they can for longer cruises.
:o

I'm glad you liked your accomodations tho! What did your friends think?

[LAFFNVEGAS]

After 6 Zuiderdam cruises we took a Caribbean Princess last week (only because Zuidy is in Alaska) and were very disappointed in the service, somewhat disappointed with the ship. We can't wait to get back on a Vista ship.

Candy the ZuiderPrincess <-- has to wait for November

Candy Welcome Home, Was wondering what you thought of Princess? It does not surprise me, I think we are all a bit hooked on HAL;)

[Candy]

Candy Welcome Home, Was wondering what you thought of Princess? It does not surprise me, I think we are all a bit hooked on HAL;)
Couldn't wait to get home. Here's part of my review. (http://home.g-net.net/%7Ecbrock/CBMay06Review.html)

Candy the ZuiderPrincess <-- can't wait for #7 on 11/4

[spendalot]

i too have heard that alot of people dont like the shorter cruises... then again after just returning from Alaska we met a couple of gals whop said that seven days was way too long and that next cruise they wanted a 3-4 dayer.

I would think that the pacific ocean heading north was not to smooth. That sometimes gets the staff , they also can get sea sick.

[Himself]

The Ryndam, the Statendam and the Veendam have all had the
upgrades!

[Qualicum]

Finally get a chance to respond to all the comments about my post. Not sure what happened on our crusie - perhaps we just had a run of back luck. Everyone on here speaks so highly about Holland America. That is what we had heard before we went and that is what we had looked forward to. Perhaps the comment about a short 3 day cruise not being the same is correct, but my feeling is that it shouldn't matter if it is 1, 2, 3 or 21 days, the service should be the same. In my company if I only provided superior service to long term customers, I wouldn't be in business long!

[thomasale]

After 6 Zuiderdam cruises we took a Caribbean Princess last week (only because Zuidy is in Alaska) and were very disappointed in the service, somewhat disappointed with the ship. We can't wait to get back on a Vista ship.

Candy the ZuiderPrincess <-- has to wait for November

Candy did you do a review anywhere?

[Candy]

Candy did you do a review anywhere?
Yes, but it isn't pretty...

Caribbean Princess May 2006 Review (http://home.g-net.net/%7Ecbrock/CBMay06Review.html)

Candy the ZuiderPrincess