My wife and I completed a cruise on Holland America's MS Amsterdam on 06/13/2009 and were very disappointed. The inattention by the crew/staff to the needs of the passengers was apalling.
We had previously cruised on the MS Westerdam, which was virtually ideal, so we opted to repeat the cruise because it was so enjoyable the first time. (Big Mistake.)
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Upon embarkation in Seattle, we were told to watch a safety video on the T.V. Unfortuneately, there was no remote control to turn on the T.V. It took FOUR HOURS and numerous phone calls to get a replacement. Same scenario to get a ballpoint pen to fill out the complimentary postcards. Finally, we had a high intensity florescent ceiling light that became defective and cycled on and off at a frequency of once per second. There were three other lights on the same switch, so if you turned the switch off to correct the problem, you were sitting in the dark. It took THREE DAYS and innumerable phone calls before the light was finally replaced.
The food was good, but not great. The Asian food was excellent, (not surprising, given the makeup of the crew). The Italian food was bland to the point of being inedible. The steaks were well prepared, but were of an inferior cut, certainly not Choice or Grade A.
Overall, I would say we were quite disappointed in the cruise and in the crew/staff's tendency to ignore/minimize legitimate complaints with virtually no attempt at problem resolution. We will think long and hard before we cruise with HAL again.
