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Note - this page contains multiple reviews.
Name: John Conrad
Email: jbconrad@engineer.com
Age: 40
Occupation: engineer
NumberOfCruises: 5
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Holland-Volendam
SailingDate: 6 Apr 2001
Itinerary: Souther/Eastern Carribean
Cabin: 7019 (Suite)
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector: 90
CabinComfort: 100
FoodRoomService: 95
CruiseStaff: 95
CabinAmenities: 100
FoodLidoDeck: 80
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 90
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 100
FoodVariety: 95
DeckService: 80
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon: 90
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 100
LoungeService:
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors: 100
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 100
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 100
EntertShowLounge: 90
OverallPortsofCall: 100
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 80
CruiseActivities: 95
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 100
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 100
Stabilization: 100
ShopsOnBoard: 80
SpaceRatio: 100
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 17 Apr 2001
Time: 16:34:03
Remote Name: proxy3.fm.intel.com
Remote User:
Comments
This is the first cruise my wife and I took our children (age 5 and 9, 1 boy/1 girl) on and we all had a great
time! We've taken 4 other cruises on our own (Carnival, Seabourn, Windstar, and Celebrity), so we didn't
know what to expect taking the kids. The other cruises with kids (Carnival and Celebrity) seemed to have
too many kids in addition to some pretty poor behavior. Since this was Spring break, there were 90 children
out of a total 1502 passengers - a seemingly much lower ratio than on some other cruise lines. We were
nervous about the reputation Holland America has for catering to the older crowd, but found that with the
limited number of children, the incredible Indonesian crew, and the amenities onboard ship, everyone - old
and young - had a great time.
Our room steward, Marlan, took every opportunity to be kind to the children, including leaving them an
unconscionable amount of chocolate on their pillows at night! Most of the crew seemed to truly enjoy and
interact with the kids.
We did only a single shore excursion on Nassau. For a family of four, they can really add up the cost. On
the other islands, we simply went to the dock and got a cab to the beach. All but the beach on Bonaire
(Pink Beach) had lounge chairs and umbrellas for rent (as well as food, drinks, soda, etc). As it turned out,
most of the beaches we went to were in front of resorts anyway. The total cost was about $35 for the cab
round trip and $10-$20 for rentals and food. Isle de Margarita though won my heart with the least
expensive beer and soda! We never had a problem with the cabs. Most times we simply asked the driver to
pick us up at a specific time.
Embarkation and disembarkation were unbelievably easy. Holland America had a computer glitch at
embarkation, but the extra time allowed us to meet up with my mom, who was also traveling with us. At
disembarkation, one small bag was not with the others. The HAL agents quickly spread the word out
amongst the dozen or so agents working and managed to find it within just a few minutes.
The itinerary was really great at 10 days. The last at sea day was perfectly placed on the 2nd to last day to
give us enough time to recharge our batteries after hitting the beaches for five consectutive days. The
itinerary we took was: 2 days at sea, Bonaire, Isle de Margarita, St Lucia, St Kitts, St Thomas, at sea,
Nassau.
If you're thinking about taking children, make sure to go when there will be a fair number. Those weeks they
have enough kids, they run the club HAL program. In any event, I can completely recommend a HAL trip for
families with kids!
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