Mediterranean Sea Tour & Trip Reviews

Werkelijk schandalig. Met de ene telefoon 1 uur 47 minuten in de wacht en dan wordt plots de verbinding verbroken. Met andere telefoon idem na 43 minuten. Via Instagram en Facebook berichten gepost, geen reactie. Een wirwar aan onduidelijke mails worden er door HAL verstuurd betreffende updates welke niet eens voor onze cruise bestemd zijn. Ik begin langzaamaan steeds minder zin in de komende cruise te krijgen en een gevoel van spijt gekozen te hebben voor HAL bekruipt mij ook al.

Onmogelijk om HAL te bereiken. 2 weken geleden een cruise geboekt, maar deze staat nog steeds niet in het account. Hierdoor kunnen we de laatste betaling ook niet doen, terwijl de tijd een beetje begint te dringen. Ik heb HAL meerdere keren gebeld, maar een wachttijd van 2+ uur is normaal bij deze rederij. E-mailen heeft ook geen zin, afgelopen 2 weken heb ik drie mails gestuurd naar diverse adressen, waarop geen reactie komt. Zelfs annuleren is op dit moment niet mogelijk.

Vandaag viel mij op dat het Nederlandse nummer is vervangen door een Amerikaanse. Lekker klantvriendelijk, moet je nog een buitenlands tarief betalen én Engels spreken ook. Wij twijfelen serieus om de cruise te annuleren, want dit zegt heel veel over een bedrijf.

Teleurgesteld in HAL,
Graag wil ik met u onze teleurstellende ervaringen delen mbt. onze cruise vakanties. Drie jaar geleden boekten wij een cruise naar Noorwegen, werd geannuleerd vanwege corona “overmacht“ uiteraard begrijpelijk. Wij lieten het betaalde bedrag niet terug storten uit loyaliteit naar HAL. Het was voor bedrijven een moeilijke tijd en wij hoopte de volgende zomer alsnog te gaan. Kort voor onze reis kregen wij bericht dat onze boot de Rotterdam werd verkocht, onze reis ging dus weer niet door. Wij hebben ze het voordeel van de twijfel gegeven en opnieuw het jaar daarop geboekt (dit jaar dus). En geloof het of niet maar we kregen bericht dat de reis naar Spitsbergen niet doorging want onze boot de Volendam werd voor opvang van Oekraïners ingezet. Vreselijk wat deze mensen moeten meemaken dus van onze kant alle begrip. Maar had HAL hier niet anders mee om kunnen gaan door een goed alternatief te bieden in dezelfde periode. Maar omdat wij vinden dat ze wel mooie reizen aanbieden en een fantastische keuken hebben, en heel goede service dachten wij ach driemaal scheepsrecht we boeken toch nog een week naar Noorwegen, omdat zij het plaatsje Bergen aan zouden doen en dat vinden wij een prachtige plek. Alles geboekt en wat denk je ………… de route is gewijzigd ze stoppen niet in Bergen. Wij zouden deze reizen met familie en vrienden maken. Het is zo jammer dat dit niet door kan gaan. Het extra boordtegoed dat wij hebben ontvangen kan deze teleurstellingen niet goedmaken. Ik zit inmiddels een uur en 56 minuten aan de lijn met HAL omdat ik nog wat vragen heb maar wederom helaas. Je zou zeggen Mail dan, maar we hebben bericht gekregen te bellen in plaats van te mailen. Zojuist wordt de verbinding verbroken met HAL ik denk dat de verbinding automatisch is verbroken omdat ik langer als twee uur aan de lijn zat. Laatste stunt: tot twee weken geleden zouden we vertrekken vanuit centrum Adam, parkeergarage geboekt ad euro 98, toen kwam er een aanpassing naar vertrekken VCK terminal, parkeren omgeboekt nu euro 155 voor 1 week. En ja hoor vandaag toch vertrekken vanuit centrum Adam. Parkeerplek kost nu inmiddels euro 175 voor 1 week. Ons advies voorlopig niet meer boeken bij de HAL.
Els en Ruud Kamp

Telefonisch zeer slecht te bereiken wachttijden van 3 uur is normaal blijkbaar.
Diverse malen geprobeerd te bellen maar tevergeefs.
uiteindelijk vorige week iemand aan de lijn die mij nog zou terug bellen omdat hij iets moest navragen, tot nu toe moet hij nog bellen.
Gisteren weer gebeld en nog 3 uur aan de telefoon gehangen en dan opeens de mededeling dat het kantoor gesloten is.
reactie op mails is er ook niet.
ik weet niet wat de Holland Amerika Lijn verstaat onder klantvriendelijk en service gericht, het is gewoon waardeloos.
Wij hebben al meerdere cruises gemaakt bij andere rederijen, Maar dit is ons nog nooit gebeurd.
Diep triest ik had hoge verwachtingen van de Holland Amerika Lijn.

I have spent 298 days aboard six different Holland America vessels, an easy and comfortable way to see the world. As a mid-Western lad it never occurred to me that I would sail five times across the Atlantic, across the Pacific and the Bering Sea, and through the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. Alaska! Kamchatka! China, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, Hawaii! Livorno, Rome, Nice, Brest, Gibraltar, Cadiz, Barcelona, Lisbon, Athens, the Greek Isles, Casablanca, Marrakech! Central America, around South America and Antarctica! I've been to Machu Pichu and Iguassu Falls! In October I will circumnavigate Africa. Unbelievable adventure, thanks to Holland America. The cabins are clean and comfortable and the food so much better than the muck I usually heat in my microwave. We should appreciate how good is life in the 21st century.
I would rate Holland America 5-Star, but for the huge premium they charge single travelers. Ships built in the future could be designed to contain several much smaller, cheaper cabins to accommodate those of us who have lost their mates or are completely alone in the world. How much better my travels around the world would have been if shared with my wife. High "single supplements" penalize socially-isolated folks who have outlived their friends and family. Punishment piled on top of misfortune. If not for single supplements, I would probably spend a lot more of my days aboard Holland America ships.

Boat had faults not reported to us – no read out on fuel gauge ( which we found out before we left), no read out on log, and the wind readout failed. Dicky float switch on auto bilge pump was reported – told to “turn it off” – and we were told how to remove an airlock from the fresh water system (we needed to, which implies they knew there was a fault).

The boat is a poor design: in practice the Bimini can’t be lowered, so helmsman can’t see the mainsail when it’s being raised; anchor locker had to be kept open when anchoring; and while airy and spacious inside there’s insufficient stowage for personal gear even for a one week holiday.

Little thought for the customer : the fridge was turned off between charters as a matter of policy, so you start with a warm fridge; no cleaning materials left from the previous charter as “a child could poison itself”. We were provided with Heikells Ionian Pilot and a chart – but no additional local information and questions were rebuffed with ‘it depends how good a sailor you are’. The echo sounder datum was set 1 metre below the keel – and it seems that was true for other boats too. So we missed out on places we could have safely gone.

The base staff were pleasant but no one could answer any questions off their script – that was always someone else’s job. Emails to the base went unanswered – apparently because the manager had been sacked ( can no one else read emails?). Head office was texting me for my sailing qualifications 6 days into the charter – they’d been shown them and taken copies at the start.

We had a good holiday, but that’s because of Corfu not because of The Moorings

Having booked a Greek Island Cruise for July 2022, we were subsequently informed that Venice port of call was changed to Trieste and Santorini had been removed (which was the main reason for selecting this cruise) and replaced with Nafplion (Greece). No reasons were given for the changes and the agent we used was totally unhelpful.(IGLU). I understand that changes sometimes need to be made but clarification was required.
I contacted HAL (General enquiries) and was basically dismissed with "refer to your T&Cs" and so contacted "Guest Relations" on 22/4/22 with 5 queries regarding the above and still waiting for a response.
In the meantime I have emailed "GE" twice and received a response answering one of my queries, the remainder being answered by "refer to the T&Cs".
In essence the Santorini change is being described as an "operational change" and Venice was listed on the itinerary even though the likelihood was at risk owing to legislation at Venice being changed, which wasn't made clear when the cruise was booked.
Changes happen, but my rating is based on the lack of customer service and lack of transparency in the answers to my queries.

We are booked on an Alaskan Cruise this Saturday and I’ve just found out we need a negative pcr trst 72 hours beforehand . I have tried ringing H&A 3 times to be told they are busy and cut me off and to use the chat line on the navigator app which doesn’t work There is no information on any of their sites as to the cost of a lateral flow test done at Vancouver Canada Pier. We have travelled from the Uk and will only have 1 day to find a test site who are charging outrageous prices . This is my first H&A cruise in many years and not impressed . MSC did free embarkation tests in Southampton last December.

Als fervent cruiseliefhebber kregen we een mooie aanbieding van Holland America Line, met aanleghavens die we nog nooit bezocht hebben, en als hoogtepunt een bezoek op 28 mei aan Monaco waar op die dag de Formule1 kwalificatie plaatsvindt, een buitenkansje dat we snel geboekt hadden. Maar precies 3 dagen nadat we de complete betaling hadden voldaan, ontvangen we een bericht van Holland America Line dat het bezoek aan Monaco niet doorgaat met als reden “drukte in de haven”, zonder uitleg of onderbouwing, zelfs zonder excuses. Ze verschuilen zich achter hun Algemene Reisvoorwaarden maar daarin staat toch duidelijk het tegenovergestelde: “Redelijke wijzigingen zijn wijzigingen ten gevolge van omstandigheden die zich voordoen na de totstandkoming van de overeenkomst en die voor de Reisorganisator niet voorzienbaar waren bij het afsluiten van de overeenkomst.”. Volgens mij is het al wel meer dan 3 jaar bekend dat de Formule1 in dat weekend in Monaco plaatsvindt, en niet pas na onze boeking. Waarom komt Holland America Line niet een legitieme verklaring die wel verdedigbaar is.

This was my first Europe trip with my twin sister and we absolutely loved it! Our tour guide, Simona, was excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed our trip. We decided to balance independent travel with the tour (we arrived early in the morning on the first day in Rome to explore the highlights not included on the itinerary and spent an additional two days on our own in Paris at the end of the tour). We also booked flights on our own, though Globus' options to add on flights with airport transfer is pretty convenient. I'm glad we added on travel on our own because this tour is just that, a highlights tour! We got to see a lot in a short period of time, but, there's no way you can see it all. I still feel like I could've spent longer in Paris. I definitely wanted to see more of Florence. In Paris, we went on our own to explore the Louvre and Musee D'Orsay. We didn't have time for Montmartre.

The organization of the entire tour was great and having both Simona and local guides was great-- there's nothing like learning about a city through the eyes of the locals. I appreciated that Globus allows you to upgrade, add additional nights in their hotels at the end, and also, let's you add on optional excursions. Everything was a great price. I did research on my own and it was truly a great value. I thought the hotels were very nice and the included breakfasts were absolutely delicious! We added on quite a few excursions: the Florentine Dinner, Mount Pilatus, Dinner Party and Illumination Drive, and Excursion to the Palace of Versailles. I felt the Florentine Dinner, Mount Pilatus, and the Palace of Versailles were absolute musts. As I mentioned, the tour is fast-paced and you are moving around a lot! It requires early wake-up, but there's time to sleep on the bus. It's convenient that Globus and the bus driver takes care of moving your bags around, as you are moving from city-to-city, another bonus of using a tour company.

We took our first Holland America cruise this summer to Alaska. We left from British Columbia on a 7 days cruise and flew back from Anchorage after the 3 day land tour. We have been on several others cruises and we liked the fact the ship was much smaller on this trip. The food was good. I have to say the hours of operation for the food wasn't as long as other cruises but still adequate. The only complaint I would have about the buffet was the ice machine was very difficult to operate. I was surprised that staff served most of the buffet. . i am guessing for health sanitation concerns. The staff was great. The ship was clean. The crew was constantly cleaning any problems. Our room was adequate for an inside room. The room stewards were great and were very accommodating if we needed anything. The crew explained things as we traveled along the inside passage and Glacier Bay. The entertainment during the day wasn't quite as good as a larger ship but we also traveled to Alaska and had several ports to see. The weather was fabulous while we were in Alaska.

This is no where near the claimed 5 Star luxury cruise line. We have just been to an inner passage Alaskan tour. We had booked hoping to be a once in a lifetime experience. It was a big let down. Most of our time was spent trying to sort our food a big surprise as one had heard that you get a lot of tempting food on a cruise. The line could not cater for 5 vegetarian who do not eat eggs and 1 vegan. We did complained from day 1 and at though the staff tried there best but there were various problem mostly due to the kitchen staff either not bothered or overworked. This is made worse by the senior staff on the ship having no power to address the situation they just said to us that they have taken noted our comments and will forward to their head office. So surprised that a very simple diet of vegetarian and vegan requirement could be satisfied. There was virtually no desert except ice cream. The serving staff also not sure of the ingredients.

Thank You Alison (Sutherland) working in Customer Relations UK for sorting out my problem with claiming my on board credit. You were super quick and professional and deserve your 5 star review.
Many thanks
Janet Jones

I am appalled and dismayed with my recent attempt to communicate with HAL Guest Relations department. I tried to book a 17 days cruise thru an agency. The agent notified me that he couldn't put under my name, though - it was rejected by the system every time my name was input, so, he put a hold on that cruise under my wife's name and advised me to call HAL Guest Relations (GR) next day. I didn't wait till next morning and started calling Mariner Society immediately, trying to figure out what could be wrong. The Mariner Society couldn't find any discrepancies, so, I called GR - they couldn't clarify the situation either. Next morning, the agent told us that she was advised to talk to the GR manager, Brett Swafford, who supposedly would be able to solve the mystery. She provided us with Brett's phone number and told us to call him as well. Two days later, after leaving 6 messages on his phone, at least two messages left on the supervisor's phone, Celeste, numerous calls and conversations with other members of GR we still neither heard from anybody or given an explanation of what is going on and why we can't book that cruise! I am most annoyed that I wasted that much time while on vacation waiting for a returned phone call!
I trust this is not the way HAL wishes to conduct business with valued customers—we have been with HAL since 2005 and have never encountered such treatment before. We have around 700 cruise days with HAL and 1000 credit days. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss matters further and to learn of how you propose to prevent a similar situation from recurring. I look forward to hearing from you, HAL!
All I want is a closure to this case - there are plenty of other cruise lines to choose from.
I also, would like to have a written letter explaining why and how my name got suddenly flagged!?
HAL executives sometimes need to be reminded that their business rises and falls with customer satisfaction!!!

First cruise, ever! We did a land & sea journey to Alaska through Holland America Line. This is not a review of the trip (which was great!) so much as how HAL handled our complaints of damaged luggage. My sister's luggage arrived at our Yukon hotel with the latch broken, her clothes spilling out. She filed a report. We discovered damage to a corner of my husband's luggage at the departing airport. Too late to do a report...but HAL's property claims were wonderful, in particular, Mr. Scott Gerstl, who even called me to clarify details. He was empathetic and kind. We were reimbursed for both pieces of luggage.