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Superb quality but beware the age range
47 of 47 people found this review informative
 
Reviewed By: Niven, Epsom on 24th Nov 2011
Cruise Line: Holland America Cruises Times cruised before: 0
Cruise Ship: MS Noordam Sailed: November, 2011
Destination: Caribbean Age: 46-55
Cabin: Inside
First of all I should explain that only my wife had previously been on a cruise, and that for the rest of us (another couple & myself) this was our first time. Cruise.co.uk were very attentive in helping us choose a package that they thought would meet our requirements - a high quality ship, not a "booze cruise" for youngsters but not a ship full of old people either, and HAL were recommended which certainly met our first requirement. However, seeing the mobility scooters lined up for collection as we boarded gave an indication as to what to expect.

The average age of the predominantly American travellers must have been 70, however, everyone was extremely friendly, courteous and easy to get along with, we just felt that we would have liked a few more people of a similar age group to ourselves to socialise with.

We could not fault the on board service, with beautiful food in the main restaurant and plenty of choice in the "open all hours" self service food area. The waiters and staff were exceptional, and other suppliers would do well to take note on how to treat the customer well. There were several bars to choose from, and prices were not too bad either and the "happy hour" buy one, get another for a dollar was very welcome!

We had an inside stateroom, and our friends had a stateroom with balcony. If the budget allows, we would definitely recommend a room with a balcony, as there is so much more space and it does feel a bit weird after a while being in a room with no natural light even though the build and equipment are of a high standard.

We had studied the HAL excursions before leaving home, and decided not to pre-book anything and play it by ear. We did two HAL excursions which were good value, but were disappointed that the cycle options did not generate enough interest for HAL to run the excursion – On other islands we found local taxi's keenly priced to get us around the islands, very safe & easy and they did come back to pick us up from remote locations as previously agreed!

So in summary, are we all cruise converts now? well not quite. Whilst we all agree that we would like to experience another cruise, we would ideally like the quality of a HAL ship coupled with a younger mix of people.

Quality of Food5
In the main service restaurant in the evenings (two formal dress nights)
Entertainment3
Main theatre entertainment not very excititing for us, spent a lot of time in the piano bar with an excellent guy who could play anything on request
Shore Excursions4
Only did two excursions, both good value - last day in Lauderdale we did the Everglades trip before going to the Airport - really recommend this if your flight is after 15:00 hrs as it finishes off the holiday nicely.
Staff5
All staff were excellent, always saying hello and asking if they can help in any way -
Children's Facilitiesn/a
Onboard Activities3
Not a great selection for our age group, but plenty of choice for others who may wish to remain on board
Cabins3
Inside cabin - a little small, but you get what you pay for, and the TV was great with two channels showing front and rear live images from the Ship - turn it on in the morning to see where you are and what the weather is like.
Overall Rating4
47 of 47 people found this review informative
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Comment by Butt, sm5 4ph (07 Dec 11 12:02) about this REVIEW
We were also on this cruise and in your age range. We saw lots of people of our age but there was no real way of meeting any of them. They seem to do meets for singles, GLBT, and the younger crowd but not us inbetweeners. We did the full 21 days and loved it anyway. Our other choice was Princess and we had read a few horror stories about kids running wild and lots of drunken teenagers so I think all in all I am certainly glad we picked HAL. We will be booking with them again as couldn't fault it.
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Comment by Holmes, Abingdon (29 Nov 11 23:51) about this REVIEW
Well, that takes me back to one of our early cruises, on a Fred Olsen ship; lovely cruise, and we were almost 50, other passengers kept saying how nice it was to see some young people! HAL do have that reputation, we've had them recommended a number of times. I suggest you try Celebrity, for a slightly younger age mix, or Azamara Club, who have smaller ships, so a different atmosphere, but stunning service levels and the ships can visit some smaller ports than usual.
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