Michael Keri

Number of Cruises: 4
Cruise Line: Holland America Line
Ship: Noordam
Sailing Date: February 6th, 2002
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

Well, first the ship was old and loud. The crew were very polite and friendly. The ports we visited were for the most part nice. The problem with this cruise is not the staff or even the "old" noisy ship. The problem is with Holland America itself.

On our particular cruise, we were fogged in on our return to Tampa 5 hours out. We were delayed about 7 hours. instead of getting into port at 7:00am it was 2:00pm. Don't forget, you still have to unload luggage and clear customs first. the ship crew had said the airlines have been notified and re-scheduling was in effect. In the mean time there was no food or water available after 12:00 noon.

We did not get off the ship and out of customs until 6:00pm.

The bus dropped us off at the Tampa airport and "left us on our own". We ALL had to make our own arrangements since the airport no longer had any more flights that night, my wife and I along with several others, spent the night on the floor of the airport. I had made arrangements for a different flight for the next day, however it was not direct and cost an extra $150.00We had no choice. After writing H.A.L. their solution to the problem was to give us "shipboard credit" on our next cruise, of which I tell you will NEVER happen again.

If you really don't care if your cruise line will take care of you or not then go H.A.L. Other wise, shop around, there are too many cruise lines out there.

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