Holland America Reviews

My husband and I just returned from an Alaskan cruise with Holland America on the Eurodam and it was fantastic. The food was delicious and the staff helpful and friendly. The entertainment was great, we especially enjoyed the BB King jazz show. Ivan and Holil were the two men that cleaned and stocked our stateroom, they were friendly, always smiling and did a great job. We liked them so much we asked to take their picture. We highly recommend Holland America and will definitely use them for our next cruise. Thank you Holland America for a memorable experience.

I have reached out to the cruise line on numerous occasions to ask why they only had gluten free food on the ship for 1 day and my trip was 7 days. I asked prior to booking if they could accommodate my allergy to gluten. I informed them that I have Celiac Disease and I had to have gluten free options. I was informed that they were able to accommodate me. When I did see a few options I was told they had none, even though the box of products was displayed in the buffet. I told them it was our 25 th anniversary and they sent us cupcakes that were not gluten free. Luckily I called down to ask and they said NO. I asked what they thought I was going to eat for the other 6 days. We were on Nieuw Amsterdam 7 day Western Caribbean. I was offered $50.00 as compensation. We took our trip in November and kept trying to get a resolution till February.

What went wrong nearly everything how can they improve ?

Our cruise was awful. There were so many hidden charges, the food was awful and it was so boring. We got stuck at sea for an extra day and the private island stop was cancelled, with a pool capacity of 15 it didn’t allow for much swimming or much to do. The food was so bland and dining room food was the same as the cafeteria food only difference is they waited on you. It was a waste of money and we could hardly wait to get off.

Sailed on the brand new Rotterdam. I'll keep it simple and sour: Staff seemed overworked and unpleasant the first 3 days. They then warmed up, but still had the majority as unpleasant to minority-very pleasant. Never an above and beyond experience. Food was mediocre. Dining room at the end of the ship, rocking about. Purchased watches which led to the most horrible and violating experience between ship staff and Florida Customs Officers. It was essentially a scam between the cruise and Customs Agents which led to a fine of over $800 for 2 watches priced at $2200 and $900 respectively. Rooms were exceptionally small, even for a cruise, though very modern and stylish. Too bad the dispensers were broken in the bathroom. Do not take Holland America; you have been warned.

Mindboggling how poor customer service is. I have send in 4 times a request for a call back and I receive an automated email that it can take up to 4(!) weeks before an employee calls me back. Today our cruise would start in Civitavecchia but we did not go and will loose the funds. We did not want to board before some normal questions were answered. Never again a booking at HAL, that is for sure.

Guest relations before and after the cruise are horrible. Conflicting and flat out wrong information, unhelpful. I almost canceled the cruise several times before leaving. It was that bad. Now I have been double charged for the same excursion which I have been trying to get fixed for two months. Last comment was they were waiting to hear from the ship. Since it was the excursion from the ship to the airport so how would the ship know? I provided dates, confirmation numbers.... everything they needed... should take five minutes to figure out. No more HAL cruises for me. Might only be an excursion this time but I see this is common for lots more money in many reviews provided. Sad ...as the on board experience was mostly good and we had lots of cruises planned for both us and family and friends.... not any more with HAL Not worth the hassle when there are so many other cruise lines

Regretting my decision to book with Holland America. I have been on the phone for over an hour to get the address to our hotel upon arrival... no one can provide this information. Sad. Customer service is poorly trained all the way around. Terrible service. You know that gut feeling when you call the first time and get poor service (first impression), listen to your gut it's usually right. Wish I could cancel this upcoming trip.

Currently on board the Nieuw Amsterdam approaching Freeport, Bahamas. Pluses? Pinnacle Grill is excellent as are our two cabin stewards, Madee and Rosa. That's where it ends. Food is at best mediocre, buffet selection is terrible, buffet hours are pathetic! 24 hour dining options? Non existent short of room service which has a very meager selection. Entertainment? Nothing like we were promised. We booked Holland America for the more immersive experience of enrichment lectures, the Lincoln Center for classical music, etc...forget about either one! Lincoln Center is closed! Why? It's been replaced by the "Dance Company" at the main stage...otherwise known as the standard evening shows. One has nothing to do with the other!! Enrichment lectures have been one talk about "Life under the Surface" and another about rum...that's it!. We feel completely ripped off, having spent over 6k for what amounts to a boring boat ride for a week we could have enjoyed on a real vacation elsewhere. Heck, we would have had a much better week staying home! Don't waste your money or time. Needless to say my wife and I are very angry at this pathetic cruise and deserve a refund. We’ve talked to many others who feel the same. I normally write balanced reviews with but it's hard to when the positives are so, so few.

I haven't even departed yet and I am already sorry that I booked with Holland America. Their website is difficult to navigate and their customer service is simply non-existent. My previous cruises were with Princess and Celebrity, both of which were much more responsive. Unfortunately, this time HA offered the itinerary that I wanted.

Holland America was the worst cruise line I have ever been on, I definitely do not recommend this cruise for any human on this planet including young people. Very unpleasant atmosphere and the staff are extremely unwelcoming and intimidating. Once you have left the port and your at sea, their attitudes start to change and they all start acting like thugs. I was shocked by the amount of unprofessionalism, but I guess people who have secure jobs on a major cruise line can treat their guests like crap and get away with it trip after trip. These losers are too immature and inhospitable for any human to enjoy their, “accommodations” and perhaps they should consider making a cruise line for wild zoo animals instead, because that’s how they treat their guests. Never again with Holland America!

The worst cruise company. Just don’t care and driven by pure greed. Hygiene poor and serving tongues left on food so cross contamination. Covid on board and many cases on board including our next door cabin had people confined to the room with Covid/19, which us hardly surprising.

Overcharged several times for wine package we had paid for. And charged us again on diverse occasions.

Although we booked many locations to visit, many cancelled en route and also pre-departure. Thefts from our cabin, expensive items stolen. Attempted unlawful withdrawals from our debit card in excess of 3700 usd.

Driven by greed. Dumped in many isolated areas and 60-79% we had to travel by tender. Many people suffering from disabilities could not use the tenders. Dumped in a rat invested town on one occasion. Having waited to board the tender for 2hrs, 40min travel in the sweat box, waited for coach 30mins with 40min travel to nearest town. Once there found the street could not be used dave for the roads and the Market was infested with rats. Thus typified many of the places we were dumped during the cruise.

Truly the worst company ever for a cruise. Customer service appalling leaving me now to sue the agent for this 33 day disastrous cruise.

The cruise should carry a Heakth warning relating to theft from cabin, unlawful transfers from customers account, not suitable for anyone suffering from disabilities. Covid friendly as the hygiene is appalling. Drinks over priced a typical bottle of beer 7 usd plus 18% service charge.

Staff hard working and food ok apart from hygiene snd coss contamination of food leading to the possible spread of Covid-19 virus

Totally disgusted. Dave your time and money, choose snd book with a good company such as Cunard, Celebrity, Pz&O but not this uncaring company designed to discriminate against those with disabilities

There is much to write.It would take pages and time to say.They don't care about customer satisfaction.I waited 6 months for a reply.
Very unhappy with the answer I received from them.
I will take my customer elsewhere.The one thing I can say the on board staff, cleaners, kitchen and food service you couldn't fault.They work hard.and always very helpful.

Cruise date 2-11-23
Extremely dissatisfied with Holland America Cruise Line not being straight forward about Turks and Caicos horrific vaccination policy.
The vaccination policy for Turks and Caicos should be clearly printed on the advertised destination! After refusing to let us disembark in Turks, Holland America informed us we could find their vaccination policy hidden in “frequently asked questions”. Beware, Holland America is deceptive in their advertising of cruises .
Currently, we are stuck on this boat not being allowed to visit Turks. The destination is why we booked this cruise. We might just be one unhappy customer because we didn’t lie when asked if we were vaccinated before boarding the ship, but I can guarantee Holland America has thousands of visitors who did lie and were not required to show vaccination cards.
Holland America, Turks and Caicos policy is complete BS!!!
The cruise line doesn’t advertise the policy of Turks and you’re not required proof of vaccination when boarding the ship . All You need to do is just lie , say you’re vaccinated and then you can disembark in Turks. It’s just smoke and mirrors. If cruise lines advertised that Turks required a vaccination, the island’s economy would collapse and the cruise lines would loose a popular destination.
If you’re a believer in freedom of medical choice, boycott Holland America and Turks!!!!

They charge me for two people when I travel solo - pure greed, selfish and low life.