Wonderful Holland America cruise we will never forget

We had cruised 51 times before and in almost every part of the world. These previous cruises ranged from 7 to 14 or 15 days in length. Because of the travel time to and from the ship, we grew to prefer cruises that are 10 or more days in length. These prior cruises were all spectacular in so many different ways.

In searching the Internet, we found a 30-day Holland America cruise on the Statendam sailing from San Diego to Lima, Peru, and back to San Diego. We visited ports in Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama and Ecuador. We had three full days in Lima to explore that wonderful city. The itinerary and ports were different in each direction.

There is cruising but this cruise was nothing like the previous 51. For the first three weeks or so, we could not even think far enough ahead to or beyond the end of the cruise. We felt feel more like residents on the ship than as short-term guests. It was definitely a different and world-class experience!!!

We sailed with Holland before and everything was still top of the line. Because we technically booked two back-to-back cruises (we purchased the 30-day option), I was quite surprised that the entertainment and shows were different over the entire 30 days – no repeats.

Usually on cruises, I feel deprived of my daily newspapers and hardcopy access to the current news. Sure, Holland and other cruise lines have satellite TV (and movies and more) in the cabins with a number of news channels, but this is not like having access to the daily news in newspaper detail. Holland also provided a summary news pamphlet each day in several languages.

However, I was elated that Holland also provided free Internet access to the full New York Times 24/7. I was able to use their computer terminals as well as my own laptop, and the cost was absolutely free. There was never a wait to use one of the ship’s computer terminals for this free access.

Holland had numerous on-board activities to keep us entertained, educated and/or engaged, if we wanted to be. The many free Digital Workshop courses on Windows, photo editing, creating movies and slide shows, digital cameras, and several other interesting subjects, were all enjoyable and informative. I found these free sessions to be quite valuable, and I use computers all the time.

There is cruising, and then again, there is cruising. This 30-day Holland America cruise on the Statendam was wonderful beyond compare.

I was able to do some consulting work remotely while on the ship, and I was more than impressed by how the ship’s crew catered to my needs and requests whenever I asked. I am writing this review primarily to pay some respect and homage to Holland America because of all the help the ship’s crew graciously gave me during this cruise of a lifetime.

Steve McEvoy

West Chester, PA

Thank you for the posting. So happy to hear good news.

Sounds wonderful.

I need another l o n g cruise.

We did that cruise several years ago and we too really enjoyed it. The many ports were wonderful. We also enjoyed the three days in Lima. Highly recommend!

Thanks so much for your wonderful comments about HAL.

That has been my late DH and my cruise line of choice for over 81+ cruises. We sailed other lines but HAL was always by far our favorite.

There have been changes like at most of the cruise lines but their crews have always been so wonderful. They are HAL's biggest asset IMO.

Thanks for your post, samcevoy, especially since I've booked the 30-day voyage for Feb-Mar 2017.