LabMom57

I understand. We feel the same way about food. I was really surprised by the quality of the food on the Eurodam. It was excellent, as good or better than Oceania. We still sail Oceania. We have a cruise booked for December on the Insignia in fact. My enjoyment of our HAL cruise is not a dis on Oceania. We still intend to enjoy whatever cruise we get a good price on an itinerary we like.

We just returned from our first cruise on Holland America. It was a 7-day Alaskan cruise, Seattle to Seattle. My overall impression is that we enjoyed the experience a great deal. We already have another cruise booked on HAL for April 2024 (Japan) and wanted to be sure we liked the line before that bill comes due. There has been a lot posted about how things have slipped on various lines since COVID, so I thought I would share our impressions. We have been on 2 previous cruises, both on Oceania. We cruise in Veranda staterooms. Why I chose to try HAL: The cost for Oceania is very high when compared to HAL. Even though a lot is included in the Oceania fare, I was feeling like I wasn't getting my money's worth. We have traveled extensively throughout our lives and like a bit of luxury. However, we also want value for the money. We decided to try other lines just so we could compare for ourselves. For my wallet, I felt HAL veranda cabin with HIA was an excellent value (standard HIA not early booking with the upgrades). What we liked best: The food. It was pretty uniformly excellent. Tamarind was spectacular and an excellent value. The food in the dining room was also excellent. The buffet food was also very good, though some entrees were overcooked for my palate. Not a big deal to me. Since it is a buffet, I can go back for something else! I love a good cruise buffet. 🙂 Choice of venues. We enjoyed checking out all the different entertainment venues on the ship and the various bars. There is something for everyone compared to the small ships we had been on before. We liked some venues more than others but had the freedom to choose, which I really liked. Lots of places to hang out. The ship had a lot of places to sit and relax or read. I really liked that. It was Alaska so outside was often not the best place to be. Fortunately, we found different places all the time. Loved that. Library. I actually really liked the library concept on the Eurodam. I don't actually need any books as I travel with a Kindle. However, my husband (who is not a reader) was able to find a book that interested him and he enjoyed. Space for all. One thing we worried about was the number of people on the ship. We are used to sailing on ships that have room for less than 700 people. There were almost 2100 on our sailing. We worried about lines and having to wait for things. We really did not have to worry. Even in the buffet, there are so many stations available and the staff so good at serving, lines are short and waits are brief. We had no problem getting off the ship for excursions, which was great. However, we did not have any tender ports on this voyage! Cabin size. As I said, we choose veranda cabins for cruising. One issue with some of the small ships is the size of the stateroom, and in particular the size of the bathroom on Oceania's smaller ships. I was pleased with what we had on the Eurodam and would not hesitate to book it again. Things that weren't great: The food in Pinnacle Grill was very good but the service was terrible there. It took 90 minutes from when we were seated to when we received our entree. It was clear the kitchen couldn't keep up that night. We had a LONG delay between our appetizer and our entree. Express lunch in the main dining room on a late start port day was not great. The staff was a mess and couldn't seem to get everyone's orders served for each course. Someone was always missing a dish at our table. Embarkation meal in the MDR was also not great. Fortunately, other meals on different days were great. Staff in some bars kept making mistakes. Not a huge deal. We eventually chose to stick to the bar where we got better service (Billboard Onboard). Room service delivered our breakfast 30+ minutes early twice -- one of which we were still asleep! I always plan for up to 10 minutes or so early but 35 minutes was a bit much given it was 5:25 am. I know why it happened (early port call). Again, not a huge problem. Water. I don't like that water is part of the beverage package. I drink about 3 liters a day and it was very hard to do for this voyage. HAL should install self-serve bottle refill stations or allow passengers to bring on water. I would buy a case from them but the price was absurd. This was the one thing that really annoyed me. Bottom line: For us, Holland America was a pleasant surprise. Itinerary is still the most important item for us when cruising but HAL just moved up to the top of the list in preference for us. We have a Celebrity cruise in 2024, so we will see how we feel after that. My thanks to everyone who shared their opinions, experiences, and information here on CC. It was a great help to us in researching prior to our cruise. Ellen

@Haljo1935 Thanks for the tip and the menu! I think I remember reading the MDR is open for a limited time on embarkation day. Do you recall if that is correct?

Thanks all. We prefer to board prior to lunch so we can eat onboard. It's good to know we can do that on HAL!

@Oceansaway17 Thanks for posting the local information. I'm a local but I know most people can use that very information!

Thanks for the info. I wasn't sure if the early boarding folks had high Mariner status or were in suites. Good to know we can board earlier!

Next week will be our first cruise on HAL. We are leaving for Alaska from the Seattle pier. We were assigned a 1 pm check in time, which seems rather late given the ship sails at 3 pm. My question is this: If we arrive before our check in time, will we have to wait until that group boards or can we get checked in and board earlier? Thanks for any light you can shed. We would like to board and have lunch.

I wasn't hospitalized but was too sick to even walk the dog. For me, that was pretty sick. I'm from the healthcare world and am fully aware of vaccine effectiveness. I shared the information to let others know that precautions are still smart. Cruising is a common way for folks who aren't normally exposed in their daily life to get COVID. It makes an appearance regularly on cruise ships and is no longer being reported. Vaccines keep you out of the hospital and alive. I got fairly sick and it took quite a while for my cough from bronchitis to clear. I'm only 62 and in good health. My husband is 68 and was sick with flu-like symptoms for a week and felt better in about 10 days. He has already had the extra bivalent booster for added immunity before our cruise next week. I am not eligible yet. Like influenza, people have to be smart. If you are a senior or have other medical issues you need to take extra precautions. That does not mean cruising is off limits. Yes, we had COVID. We also have 5 cruises booked in the next year including out of the country. I think sharing information is important.

Hubby and I cruised around French Polynesia in April and both came back with COVID. Both of us are fully vaxxed. Still heading on another cruise this month! We will just be more careful to mask up in crowded conditions in the future (think airport in Tahiti where social distancing was not observed).

That's weird. Somehow we have an extra $50 in OBC for the Japan cruise. Just to clarify, my understanding was that for 10 days or more in a balcony cabin or higher the OBC is $200. I might have misread the info though.

I have two HAL sailings -- a 7-day to Alaska in 2 weeks and a 14-day around Japan next April. In looking at my account, it looks like the Japan sailing had the OBC increased from $350 to $400 for the 2 of use but nothing was added for Alaska. Is anyone seeing an increase that indicates stacking of original OBC (not military or teacher) with the AARP? It looks to me like I got the higher of the two options in each case. Thanks.

Thank you so much for your detailed review and pictures. I really appreciate all of the great information. We are on this same itinerary in August!

We are considering adding CO for our Alaskan cruise on Eurodam in August. For me, the tipping point would be the expanded room service menu for breakfast. Can you provide any information on the difference between the regular room service menu and the expanded CO one? Thanks!

We were on the Regatta in April and both came home sick with COVID. No one masked on that French Polynesia cruise.

@MisterMatthew To answer your question, no I have not yet been to Alaska. We retired last year and are just starting our travels. We have 3 cruises booked this year and 4 cruises booked for next year to celebrate retirement. Thank you for your pictures and descriptions. We enjoyed your report very much.

Honestly, this thread is making me look forward to our August cruise even more! @MisterMatthew you clearly have a way with people and a very engaging personality. I, too, love your writing style -- informative and entertaining.

We have a Labrador Retriever who is 11. (We had two but lost our older one last year.) I'm looking forward to the details. I've read a couple of reports of HAL having serious supply chain issues on other cruises this year. I won't stress about the Alaska cruise as we don't have far to go, living just outside of Seattle. However, we are booked on a HAL Japan itinerary next April. If things don't go as well as I'd like for the August cruise, we may cancel Japan. Too far to go to have issues!

I am looking forward to the rest of your report! We are on this same itinerary/ship in August.

Thank you for this post! We just booked a trip on the Xpedition (Northern loop) for 2025. I'm already so excited and now relieved that it seems it will be exactly what I hoped for when I decided on the Xpedition rather than the Flora.

Thanks for the clarity. It looks like some of the trips are indeed better than others. The one I'm interested in just isn't one of the really good deals, unfortunately! I appreciate the information though. 🙂

Hi Hank, Your posts from your Japan cruise gave me pause about our HAL Japan cruise next year. We went on the Regatta in April (South Pacific). We have previously cruised O on the Sirena. I noted they ran out of the Chardonnay by the glass we had been enjoying, which was shocking to me for Oceania. The food was mostly very good with a couple of not great entrees in the main dining room. One thing I noticed was the service in the bars wasn't great. I spoke to the bar manager about it (after lodging a complaint) and he said they have a lot of new staff, which is unusual for O. I think much of the industry has been having issues. We are booked on O again for December and will see if things have improved. As far as Marina, I'd say it is likely dated due to the delayed upgrade. The ships that have been upgraded are very nice. However, if one were judging an Oceania ship against a Celebrity Edge class, they all look dated due to the difference in style. Just my thoughts there. We personally are moving our new bookings to Celebrity for a bit, also to try something new!

I find this sale just as confusing this year as I did last year. When I go in to do a mock booking, the prices seem no different for most of the sailings. I saw a couple where all the cabins in a particular class were the same (A1-A4, for example). Is this just another marketing ploy like 2 for 1 pricing?

Well, yikes. This section is kind of buried on the boards. We are also considering the Galapagos expedition for 2024. Given the level 4 risk in Guayaquil, that gives us major concerns. Looking forward to any replies you receive. Please share back any information you find from elsewhere!

My pleasure.

For that, we use a tote. We have a number we choose from for cruises. A backpack also works great. If you are worried about the change of clothes getting wet, you can use a small dry bag. We carry this when we kayak: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071941ZFG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1&psc=1 You can find others without the items you already have by searching Amazon for waterproof dry bag.