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Name: Sharon Sours
Email: soursfam@bright.net
Age: 43
Occupation: bookkeeper
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Holland-Noordam
SailingDate: 03-14-98
Itinerary: Western Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 98
CruiseDirector: 98
CabinComfort: 98
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 92
CabinAmenities: 98
FoodLidoDeck: 95
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 85
FoodMidnightBuffets: 95
CabinSteward: 98
ShoreExcVariety: 85
FoodVariety: 98
DeckService: 80
ShoreExcValue: 75
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 90
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 92
TenderService: 95
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges:
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 88
EntertShowLounge: 95
OverallPortsofCall: 80
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 85
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino: 95
AirSeaProgram: 98
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 98
EmbarkDisembark: 98
DiscoNightclubs: 85
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio:
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 26 Mar 1998
Time: 09:56:45
Remote Name: 209.143.15.119
Remote User:
Comments
This was our first cruise and our 25th wedding anniversary. We had only booked 5 weeks
prior to sail date. Our choices
were limited. We took the most reasonably priced package which was HAL. We were worried
about several things that we
heard after we booked the cruise. All of these turned out to be false. First, yes, it is
an older ship but it was always clean
and well-kept. We loved the open wooden decks and the overall look of the ship. Second,
yes, there were many older,
retired couples on board. Out of over 1200 passengers only 100 of them were 18 and under.
Of course, this was not
school vacation time either. We had no problem with this. We were away from our four
children for the first time in an
extended way. There were activites for the children though that were on board. There was a
wide variety of ages on
board. The older people seemed to know the cruise line to take to be pampered and well
taken care of. Third, no, it was
not as glitzy as the newer ships. It was in fact, elegant. We prefered this. The food was
great. I am a little picky about
what I eat. I was pleasantly surprised that I could not find one thing that I ate that I
did not like. The five course meals in
the main dining room had great variety. Our service was good too. It was planned that we
sit with two other couples that
were celebrating their anniversaries too. This was nice. We all got along great. We had
breakfast and lunch in the Lido
restaurant. This also had a good variety of food and everything was excellent. Their
midnight buffets were good too.
There was even a buffet at poolside that had a nice variey of items. Our cabin was another
pleasant surprise. We had
heard they would be small. We were given a cabin on the bottom deck and this worried us.
We arrived to a very large
room considering it was a standard outside category. It measured nearly 20 feet wide and
had a queen-size bed. We
were quite pleased. It was much larger than the rooms we saw on the main deck. Our cabin
steward was great. The
towels were always replaced, the bed made or turned down and the trash dumped several
times a day. When we were
comparing the cruises we were also comparing the amount of time spent at each port of
call. We were again surprised
that we enjoyed the days at sea more than the islands! It wasn't that we didn't like the
places we stopped either. We are
not into shopping as much as some. This is what alot do at these places. We did purchase
gifts and souvenirs though. We
also went on a tour, snorkeling and a submarine ride. These were nice. One thing I noticed
is the fact that alot of the
excursions started at the same time. We could not do one of the things we wanted to do if
we did the other. Overall,
Cozumel and Grand Cayman were nice to visit. Guatamala was an experience. It was an ugly
port but we were glad we
went into the marketplace. It is a part of the world that I have never seen. The children
ran up to us peddling their items
to sell. The people of the town had all their crafts on display and wanted to deal. I
doubt I would want to go again but am
glad I experienced it. One note if you are planning to go snorkeling or scuba diving buy
an underwater throw away
camera at home. Purchasing these there will cost you triple the price. The ship
photographers were always taking
pictures but there was no pressure to buy these. They were put on display and many did
purchase them. Also they
would develop your camera's pictures in 24 hours. This way we had our pictures to show at
the airport getting home.
Being our first cruise, I did overpack. We only ate dinner in the main dining room. I
packed too many dress clothes. We
did enjoy dressing up for dinner though. It really made us feel special looking so good
and being waited on with our
every need. One problem I had was that I was cold some. The air conditioning in some areas
was too cool for me. I
should have packed a few warmer items. I, of course, was thinking Caribbean weather and
forgot we would be inside the
ship's air conditioning alot. The weather on our trip was fantastic with only a few
raindrops on the way home on the last
day. One problem on deck was the claiming of the deck chairs. It seemed some would think
they could get up early and
put a belonging on a chair at the pool and have claim to it the rest of the day. We were
not sunbathers so this was not a
problem for us. We enjoyed the entertainment. We realized the other ships might have had
some more extravagant
shows but ours suited us fine. There were some very talented people. Every night we would
get the activity list for the
next day and it was filled from 6:30 a.m. to the wee hours of the next morning. I had to
miss doing some things because
we were too busy or I was too tired! The ship never really seemed crowded either. Other
than dinner, the only time we
saw a large group of people was midday at the pool. Overall, we had a great time. We could
find nothing negative to
report on the end of cruise surveys we were to fill out. We would have to recommend
Holland America and cruising to
everyone.
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