Holland America Line HAL — Local services in Hollywood

My particular cabin was 11024 and, for two of us, was a fairly good amount of space. Included in our stateroom was a mini fridge with some space to add your own bottles you may have brought on board. On Holland America cruises you are allowed to bring 1 bottle of wine per person and all the water and carbonated drinks you can carry (not checked in your luggage) without a fee so long as you drink it in your stateroom.

Along with your mini fridge, you will enjoy a nice room layout with a flat screen television on the wall for great viewing from your bed. Many staterooms on other cruise ships have also included flatscreen tvs, though the angle has nearly always been off-center to the bed. The on-demand selection of television shows and movies is second to none… by far the best I have seen on a ship. I was pretty impressed.

The m.s. Koningsdam is quite a ship. It's interior design is a beautiful mixture of contemporary luxury inspired by musical overtones and Holland America Line's rich 140 year Dutch history of sailing. All throughout the ship you will notice some of the musical themed designs... and if you're not paying attention you won't notice some of the others. There are center pieces adorned with the most beautiful mixture of flowers and orchids with an electric guitar right in the center. If you "look up" in the dining room and other areas you will notice that the curved design in the ceiling looks like the curves from inside a guitar looking out. If you "look down" at the Queen's Lounge on Decks 2 and 3 you will see a design reminiscent of the tops of a cello or bass in-laid right into the floor.

I was pleasantly surprised with the Koningsdam's Lido Market on Deck 9. The layout is such that their staff is stationed at each food area to serve passengers anything and everything they desire to eat. The glass partition between passenger and food is larger than any ship I can remember. The food in the Lido Market is better than good... for a buffet. The salad bar is fresh and staffed by 2 crew members for fast service. They build your salad right in front of you! The variety of breads is unique to Koningsdam for sure. Also, regarding the ship's regular coffee: skip the coffee.

Among my favorite places to sip on a beverage and lounge are the Grand Dutch Cafe on Deck 3 and the Crow's Nest on Deck 12. Grand Dutch Cafe is designed in such a way to truly make you feel like you're in Holland to order a latte or cappuccino with a pastry, a beer, or mixed drink. Your cappuccino comes in a lovely glass cup adorned in Dutch-style paintings. The food menu is complimentary though limited. Try the fries… they’re cut thick and very delicious. The sitting area is also designed in a traditional Dutch style. The high-top tables, as an example, include traditional Dutch ornaments display which add a unique flair to your sitting experience.

The Crow's Nest offers the most plush seating aboard the Koningsdam, along with the best views. Especially large cushy leather chairs offer a wonderful opportunity to stare into the endless blue sea as well as a perfect place to read your favorite book or do some writing.

On the Lido Deck you’ll find hotdog and burger place called Dive-In. This is like a small custom hotdog and burger stand. If you’re into burgers and dogs while on your cruise, you’ll enjoy this complimentary food stop.

All in all Holland America’s m.s. Koningsdam was an outstanding ship and provided a wonderful experience from start to finish. The music-themed decor throughout the ship, along with the exceptional design details, added to its allure. The ship’s crew, aside from the casino, were all very welcoming and helpful. The ship still has that ‘new ship smell’ while the price was right for us to try them out.

Holland America’s newest ship in the fleet is an attempt to draw in customers who normally sail with Carnival, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean. I think they’re on the...

We booked our first ever cruise with Holland America on the Nieuw Statendam from March 25, 2023 through April 1, 2023. Destinations were Half Moon Cay (Holland’s private island in the Bahamas), Curacao and Aruba. The first problem we encountered was with Holland’s Navigator app. Even though each of us had a different brand of android phone neither one of us could download the app. We were told by several Holland booking agents to contact (email) Holland’s technical support group. We did this several times. Each time we were sent back auto emails stating that someone would get back to us within 24-48 hours, NEVER heard a thing. We finally got the Navigator app to work after we got on the ship and one of the onboard staff got it working for us. Until we got it working we didn’t realize how important it was to have the app during the cruise.

Our first stop was Half Moon Cay. We had to tender to the island since there is no dock available for a cruise ship. The tender vessel was thoroughly packed in the morning, standing room only, with folks going to the island. The tender vessels ran all day bringing people to and from the ship. So, the ride back to the ship wasn’t as crowded since travelers left the island at different times of the day.

The island itself was very nice. The water was beautiful. It looked just like the paintings you see of tropical islands. There were a couple of interesting bars on the island. The one we visited was the Captain Morgan on the Rocks bar. It looked like an old sailing ship that hit the rocks and sustained major damage. A barbeque lunch was served at another location on the island. It was pretty good. The lunch had an array of offerings from burgers, dogs, ribs, fruits and salads to a variety of deserts. The only negative, I thought, was that there needed to be a few more drink stands for water, soft drinks, juice, etc.

The next day, thinking that we were heading to Curacao, the Captain announced a destination change because of a problem with one of the ship’s azipod propellers. The stops for Curacao and Aruba were flipped so that we were going to Aruba first then Curacao. No problem…understandable considering the mechanical issue. However because of a late afternoon arrival in Aruba, Holland America canceled all the excursions that people had booked and paid for. When we asked Guest Services on the ship if we would be reimbursed for the excursion paid for in our package deal we were basically told, “too bad, so sad”. When we asked at the ship’s Excursion Desk about a refund we were told that the company was evaluating on how to handle the problem and that any refund would be reflected in our final statement.

The trip to and from Curacao went without a hitch.

The only credit seen for the canceled Aruba excursion, on what we believe is our final statement, is some minor amount for local taxes and fees, nothing for the cost of the excursion itself, which brings up another incident with the Navigator app. We had to do a workaround to get to the Navigator app to find our statement because, like at the beginning, the Navigator app would NOT load on our phones at home.

Overall observation: our first cruise was ok…not great…just ok. It seemed like the ship was too crowded, especially on “sea days”. (I believe it was about 4 of the 7 days) The service people and bartenders did a fine job considering the number of folks on the ship. The entertainment was very good. The food was excellent. Our cabin was very nice with good storage. Guest Services was practically useless. There just seemed to be a corporate attitude hanging in the air of “take it or leave it”. Overall, we’d give the trip a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5, slightly better than average. The rating would have been higher had the Guest Service Desk provided some kind of customer service and...

If you watched the movie ‘The Saint’, you might remember how Val Kilmer was awed by several ‘miracles’ and that was the feeling we got from trying Holland America for the first time. We have lots of experience cruising: Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Princess, Disney, etc. and here is what impressed on this one …

We were to begin boarding at noon on the #Zaandam and got to the pier about 11:40, doors opened exactly on time to an already long line up of vacationers and we were through security, picture, and on the ship within 15 minutes. No wait for our room, we could go directly to freshen up, then on to our lunch. The ship was out to sea by 3 pm and our luggage was in our room by that time. We found that this ship works hard to limit wait times for its passengers. Miracle one.

Two pools, one had a retracting roof which meant that it was always pleasant regardless of weather, never a fight for chairs or tables. Lots of towels, a blanket on deck for all passengers when the weather turned, always extremely clean, comfortable seating with plenty of sea views. Miracle two.

The dining room where we ate the majority of the time, did not have a single bad meal. The food was always well prepared, properly spiced, appealing. Our favourite: high tea in the mid afternoons with scrumptious treats. Miracle three. The fast food by the pool - hamburgers, hot dogs and fries - was among the best anywhere. The buffet was behind glass and served so a lot cleaner and less wasteful. We didn’t use the buffet much except for breakfast, but it provided lots of choices and always looked fresh. The ship bakes delicious breads each day in a wide variety of flavours.

We were a bit worried about the small size of the ship and its age. We were sailing 11 days with half at sea but have to say we were never bored. The shows were top notched, had fun at pickle ball, table tennis, took part in stretching classes and Tai Chi in the morning with great instructors, significant assortment of books and games adjacent to a coffee shop, and the rooms had a large selection of movies and live TV shows. The main stage is very comfortable with its large bucket seats and sofas. Lots of live music throughout the ship and also many quiet and comfortable nooks to read. Cleanliness is a core competence and a major asset.

Our room had a large glass rain shower and tons of closet storage. We sent clothes for cleaning at a reasonable price. The form said returns within 48 hours, it came back within 12 hours. Miracle four.

No business is without its weaknesses and the areas for improvement in our experience were few but we did send a comment on the ships’ app with some suggestions and within hours we had received a thank you note, and the staff from room attendants to management had been appraised of our thoughts within a day and thankful for our feedback. Miracle five.

In Puerto Vallarta, Las Calenas beach was a hoot. The beach resort is quite distinctive in a jungle setting with lots of activities, comfortable lounging options and great service. The hills and pathways are challenging but part of the adventure. On the catamaran ride back the crew gave us a hilarious lip sing show. The last night the Zaandam organized midway games which got everyone involved in fun activities while rediscovering our youth with cotton candy and loaded ice cream sundaes. An innovative finish to a wonderful cruise which was topped by the World Stage Repertory Company who gave us another incredible sing and dance show. Leaving the ship, we were greeted by a large number of staff well wishers.

Thanks Holland America, we will be returning and look forward to trying...