Don't Have a Clue (And I'm new!)

[thefirstnoel]

Can anybody please inform me of Holland Am. Cruise lines? We have sailed only with Celebrity (and loved the cleanliness and little extras they provided, like padded lounge chairs, towels you didn't have to carry down from your cabin and a few more things) and Royal Caribbean (which was an older ship). We didnt think RC came close to the details of Celebrity, but I've heard worse. Anyway, any info. one can give would be greatly appreciated. Food is a concern and especially cleanliness. Does HAL have laundromats? That is one thing Celebrity did not have that disapointed us but other than that we would give them a 97%. PLEASE: ANY SUGGESTIONS AND INFO WOULD BE GREAT. Our 35th is coming up in Jan. 07 and are thinking of trying the round trip from Seattle (since we live here too!) to Hawaii. Thanks all, The First Noel

[Andee]

You may get more help if you post this on the HAL board--the people over there know everything about HAL.

[gizmo]

Does HAL have laundromats?

 

Some ships do have laundromats. The newer Vista ships do not.

Vistas - Westerdam, Zuiderdam,Ossterdam and Noordam - no laundromats.

 

and loved the cleanliness and little extras they provided, like padded lounge chairs, towels you didn't have to carry down from your cabin and a few more things)

 

Hal has padded lounge chairs around the pools. Towels are availalbe in the pool areas and as you are leaving the ship in port.

 

Appetizers in all lounges before dinner.

 

Food is subjective. I like the food.

 

Yes, the ships are clean.

 

If you have more questions, post on the Hal board.

[Cathy p]

Loved it. The crew were outstanding especially Charlie our cabin steward. The food was great. I cannot think of a thing that was wrong. We are going on the CB in July. We will then have something to compare it too.

[Jane110]

We've been on Celebrity, Princess, HAL and Oceania.

 

Our HAL cruise on the Maasdam was the biggest disappointment. The food at dinner was mediocre at best and the lunch buffet was the worst I've ever experienced. Example: fruit which was either over-ripe and mushy or hard and tasteless. Turkey at the carving station was dry as a piece of wood. The rest went downhill from there. Lunch in the dining room was pretty good, but we prefer to have lunch in a quick, informal environment or sometimes the timing was simply off because of shore excursions. We usually ended up with hamburgers at the pool (tough on my husband who doesn't eat red meat) and they had no other choices, other than hot dogs. (no grilled chicken sandwiches, or grilled vegetables).

 

Our cabin, a mini-suite, was "worn looking" and not bright, cheery and clean looking.

 

We did love the complimentaty cappuccino bar which was open most of the time and usually had some nice cookies available.