7 Nights Alaska Inside Passage Cruise

Great way to sample multiple Hawaii islands

Beautiful ship, great itinerary. Friendly and attentive staff and crew . The pinnacle class ships are well laid out, not too big and. not too small. Easy to get around. Lido buffet was great with good variety and good personal service. The main dining meals were decent, (not to the pre-covid level of food quality, but that's seems to be common among all cruise lines now). The meals were always prompt, served at the right temperature by friendly wait staff. The 270 degree LED screens in the main stage (pinnacle ships only) are visually stunning and HAL has done a great job integrating the screen's capability in the entertainment and enrichment talks. No singers, 6 very talented dancers who provided 4 different high energy shows. If you cruise regularly with HAL you have already seen these shows. One great feature on this cruise was the Hawaiian cultural enrichment team. During the 5 days at sea prior to arrival, three native Hawaiians conducted multiple presentations and activities. Hands on sessions included lei making, and ukulele lessons. ,presentations were given on Hawaiian language ,.culture and , history . And every evening in the crows nest there was a 45 minute small group musical entertainment with singing , guitars and ukulele. And at sunrise on the day of arrival at the first island, a traditional sunrise daybreak ceremony with conch shell trumpeting and singing. If HAL continues to have this group on board to Hawaii, you are in for a treat.

Great Two Week New Years Cruise

We sailed Koningsdam over the 2025 New Years holiday and had a fantastic time. We stayed in a verandah cabin that had excellent space and well organized facilities. Our steward ensured our cabin was kept clean and all our requests were accommodated. Boarding and disembarking in San Diego went very smoothly and quickly. The ship has a lot of great entertainment venues that we took advantage of. We particularly loved The Rolling Stones Lounge with its great band that invited us to dance every night. We ate every day in the Club Orange dining room. The service was always very good but many times we had to wait to get a table for breakfast or dinner. It is probably better to have fewer passengers in Club Orange to ensure people can receive the benefits. The cruise to the Mexican Riviera and Baja Peninsula allowed us to visit several interesting ports which provided insight into Mexican culture.

An outstanding cruise in every way

We had an excellent time on this cruise. The Koningsdam is one of the newer ships in the Holland America fleet, and it is well designed and efficiently laid out. Cabins are somewhat smaller than in some of the older ships, but blessedly, the Koningsdam rooms have enough electric outlets, and other design features such as a large-screen television that make the cabins comfortable. Our cabin stewards, Edy and Sigit provided exceptional service twice a day. We were pleased to see that embarkation and disembarkation was the smoothest, speediest, and most efficient we have ever experienced on a cruise. Our hats are off to the Holland America staff for making this so pleasant and easy. We were in a Neptune Suite, and the Neptune lounge concierges were continually helpful and welcoming. Likewise the staff in the Club Orange dining room, Elana, Ramonna and "Jack" provided excellent service. The entertainment on this cruise was some of the best we had experienced on a cruise. The World Stage is a wonderful performance venue with a thrust stage, excellent sight lines and a completely modern technical system (with an outstanding technical crew). We especially appreciated the Latin Divos--a trio of outstanding and engaging singers from Cuba, but the other dance, illusionist, and comedian were equally entertaining. The cruise director, Alex, was a perfect emcee. She hosted not only informational presentations, but also cooking demonstrations with the ship's head chef, and "coffee hours" with ship's crew members, and entertainers. The Koningsdam has an excellent gym and spa, which we used often. The two pools and the thermal spa pool were great. Having accessible steps into all these pools rather than exclusively ladders made the pools both safe and pleasant. We were especially impressed by the food offerings. The main dining room provided outstanding meals compared to the main dining options we have experienced on other cruise lines. Prime rib, beef tenderloin, fresh seafood, and imaginative side dishes made dining a pleasure. The Lido buffet also had some outstanding offerings. We dined at five of the specialty restaurants. Of those, Tamarind and Canaletto were our favorites. Tamarind in particular was a tremendous success, with excellent fusion cuisine and original offerings. Our only disappointment was with the Pinnacle Grill, which is touted as the "best" of the specialty restaurants. We were shocked to see Pinnacle assessing an additional upcharge for a ribeye steak--something we had not seen on Holland America before. Since we were already paying a premium for the restaurant, this seemed egregious. Moreover, we could get the same ribeye steak in the main dining room for the same upcharge, making us wonder why we had booked this restaurant. Our shore excursions booked through Holland America were generally excellent and well managed. Only in Puerto Vallarta was there a mechanical glitch in the physical docking arrangements for getting back on the ship that resulted in long lines and delays. Otherwise every port, even the tender ports, was handled efficiently. The guests on this cruise were largely an older crowd. There were less than 20 children on board, and nearly everyone was over 50, but it was clear that nearly everyone on the cruise was a highly experienced traveler who was savvy about shipboard life, and was courteous and polite. There were few "chair hogs" in the pool area, and much bonhomie among the passengers, with very few whiners and complainers, which was welcome. But, to be sure, there wasn't much one could complain about given the high quality of service.