Originally Posted by
Randyk47
Not a charge for service but I read on Cruise Critic where the relatively sedate Holland America is doing away with onboard libraries. Whether accurate or not when one cruise director was asked about the cut the answer was that doing away with the libraries fleet wide would save the company $2M a year. Sounds high but his explanation was they could eliminate a couple of positions per ship, the cost of buying new materials, replacing material appropriated by passengers, etc. Personally that doesn’t impact us but again it’s another one of those minor cuts around the fringe that’s probably not a big deal by itself but gets added to the “death by a thousands cuts”.
We have taken many long cruises on Holland America. Our most recent was at the end of November on the Westerdam. Newbies and veterans alike, including us, swore "never again." The cost-cutting measures were staggering. Activities mainly consisted of "Get together for Mah Jongg" (or Bridge, or any other games) that required no staff. Not that I cared, but there were no art auctions, where you could at least get a free glass of "champagne," and they didn't even push the spa packages. The Captain's reception, which used to include hors d'oeuvres, was reduced to a five minute waste of time. Evening entertainment was woeful, and the few audience participation shows were held when late diners could not attend. There was a fair amount of Trivia scheduled. But the prize for winning was the same identical Holland America pin Every. Single. Day. I know, because my team won almost every single day.
While I don't miss the wasteful midnight buffets, the quality of virtually every service has declined precipitously. And I miss the fun component, which was never big on that cruise line, but it is gone.