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Very Short Noordam Review

PROCRUISE

By PROCRUISE,
in Holland America Line

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PROCRUISE

PROCRUISE

Posted
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Just got home this evening after spend the last 10 days on The Noordam. I realize someone will write a very detailed review, so here is my very short review.

 

We're fans of both HAL and CCL so we looked forward to cruising on The Noordam and especially liked the itinerary since it including two ports that we had never visited before.

 

We flew to FLL on 3/24/10 at stayed at The Comfort Inn South. Very adequate, clean, friendly staff, lots of eating places around, and they had a nice continental breakfast at poolside. We took the free 10:45 a.m. shuttle to the ship the next morning, zipped through security and registration, and took a seat until our zone number was called. We were on the ship at 11:50 a.m. and began exploring. We were in our room (4144) at 1:00 p.m. Great room and we liked the deeper balcony because we use the balcony a lot.

 

We found the ship to be quite beautiful, easy to get around, very clean and friendly staff. The food in the MDR was excellent and service was very good.

We found it strange that we never even met our room steward until day nine and the two other couples at our table had similar experiences with their room stewards. We highly respect these individuals and on all previous

cruises the room stewards have greeted us on day one and we talk with them throughout the cruise. Regardless, their service was excellent, but we also pride ourselves on keeping our cabin in order to cut down on their work, if possible. The shows each evening were good and the onboard activities were fine.

 

The ports of call were great and we booked shore excursions on-line with independent tour companies in Bonaire, Curacao, and Aruba that were just outstanding. I'll do a short write up on the appropriate boards. It should also be noted that we had 10 days of absolutely perfect weather!

 

So, we think The Noordam is one great ship and we'd be very please to cruise on her again. Thanks also to all the great fellow passengers we had the honor of meeting and talking with during this wonderful Southern Caribbean cruise, 3/25-4/4. David and Ronald

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sailonH20

sailonH20

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We too just got back from this sailing. Enjoyed it very much. Balcony on the 6th level. Met our room steward 2 days into the cruise. He did a fantastic job. Enjoyed our meals in the dining room much more than the Lido (with the exception of the Asian section....great service from the female chef who always had fresh sushi and stir-fry).

 

More kids than we are used to on HAL. Some teenagers caused issues on board...to the point where the Captain made an announcement about their unruly behavior and damage to ship property. We witnessed a couple of times their unacceptable behaviour and was glad to see that HAL will not tolerate it. Never-the-less, we will avoid Spring and Easter breaks from now on.

 

Noordam is a lovely ship with a fine crew.

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Himself

Himself

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I have never been on the NOORDAM and I hear it is the nicest of the "Vista" Class ships.

I will have to try and get a trip on her. Thank you for your nice review. I am to be on the Eurodam in the fall so, as Cub fans always say: Wait til next year.

 

Again, thank you for the review.

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luckysadie

luckysadie

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We cruised on the Noordam in February and it is our new favorite HAL ship.

 

We tell everyone that the Noordam has the best crew of any ship we have ever sailed on (including other HAL, Princess and Disney ships). Not one crew member that we met was without a smile or unwilling to help, explain, or recommend. HAL should be so proud of this crew. They are the best!

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roadbeagle

roadbeagle

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We were also on the Noordam 3/25-4/4. This was our first cruise and we are forever spoiled. We had an amazing vacation. The food was great and being able to have so many food choices was nice. Our steward was really good. We saw him several times a day. Anything we needed was taken care of. We met him as soon as we got to our room on embarkation. I would highly reccommend the Noordam.

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gigianne

gigianne

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I whole heartily agree that the Noordam is one fine ship. We have been fortunate to have cruised twice now on the Noordam - just having returned on March 15th. We met our cabin stewards as we were entering our cabin for the first time - they called out a welcome (by name) and when our luggage was being delivered they went out of their way to retrieve all three pieces at once. HAL is by far our favorite cruise line and are looking forward to our next cruise - date and itinerary to be decided!!

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PROCRUISE

PROCRUISE

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We will be on in a couple of weeks. Can you tell me what entertainers you had. Also, what times were the shows? They seem to keep changing these.

Thanks

 

I can tell you what shows we had but I assume they change often. The Noordam singers and dancers did three different shows-not one of HAL's strongest points but the programs were fine and the talented professionals gave it their all. We had a comedian named Rick Starr who was very funny and never used a single vulgar word! We had a singer/piano player named Brett Cave who was very good, a comedian/magician named Craig Moreland(hope that is the correct name) who was entertaining and a violinist named Craig Halliday who was excellent. My ratings, naturally, are simply personal opinion. I know you'll enjoy The Noordam. The shows were at 2000 hrs and 2200 hrs.

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Bobblsc

Bobblsc

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I can tell you what shows we had but I assume they change often. The Noordam singers and dancers did three different shows-not one of HAL's strongest points but the programs were fine and the talented professionals gave it their all. We had a comedian named Rick Starr who was very funny and never used a single vulgar word! We had a singer/piano player named Brett Cave who was very good, a comedian/magician named Craig Moreland(hope that is the correct name) who was entertaining and a violinist named Craig Halliday who was excellent. My ratings, naturally, are simply personal opinion. I know you'll enjoy The Noordam. The shows were at 2000 hrs and 2200 hrs.

 

We are on the May 14 TA with English-in-Spain. Your info about the show times will be helpful.

 

Other questions:

 

(1) We were on Westerdan in 2005 and the show auditorium had padded columns about three feet in diameter, thus making at least 10% of seats visually impaired. Is this so on Noordam?

 

(2) The Westerdam swimming pools had desalinated water, not salt water. This was great for lap swimming in the aft pool. Is the Noordam the same?

 

3) Did the Noordam have Karaoke?

 

(4) Did the Noordam have a passenger talent show?

 

Quite obviously, we are committed to this cruise, but your responses will help our planning. Thank you.

 

Bob :cool:

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swalm22

swalm22

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Thanks for your nice short review procruise, we had last year the same experience on the Noordam and also the stewards are very gentle. I belief the reason why you not see them so often is because they just don’t want to disturb the guests. I like the ship and its quality therefore we book again the Noordam for august this year. I see you travel a lot with Carnival, after this experience you have with HAL which cruise line you like the most, Carnival or HAL ?

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PROCRUISE

PROCRUISE

Posted
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Thanks for your nice short review procruise, we had last year the same experience on the Noordam and also the stewards are very gentle. I belief the reason why you not see them so often is because they just don’t want to disturb the guests. I like the ship and its quality therefore we book again the Noordam for august this year. I see you travel a lot with Carnival, after this experience you have with HAL which cruise line you like the most, Carnival or HAL ?

 

Oh, I don't want to get caught up in this can of worms! I feel both lines have some outstanding qualities and we enjoy both HAL and CCL. However, I will commit to the following: up to this point, my two most favorite ships are: Carnival Legend and Holland America Noordam.

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PROCRUISE

PROCRUISE

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We are on the May 14 TA with English-in-Spain. Your info about the show times will be helpful.

 

Other questions:

 

(1) We were on Westerdan in 2005 and the show auditorium had padded columns about three feet in diameter, thus making at least 10% of seats visually impaired. Is this so on Noordam?

 

(2) The Westerdam swimming pools had desalinated water, not salt water. This was great for lap swimming in the aft pool. Is the Noordam the same?

 

3) Did the Noordam have Karaoke?

 

(4) Did the Noordam have a passenger talent show?

 

1.Yes there are some columns in the show auditorium that would cause impairment if you sat behind one. Our shows were never full at either time, to the best of my knowledge.

 

2. Sorry never got in the pools.

 

3. Yes they had Karaoke. They eventually picked 11 top singers and then narrowed it down to the top four singers with three judges-like American Idol. The four finalist had a big production where each sang two songs. The show auditorium was packed for this program and the four finalist were absolutely fabulous. The three judges, all staff members, stated they had never heard such great passenger singers in any previous cruises.

 

4. There was no other passenger talent show aside from the Karaoke winners program.

 

5. You'll love The Noordam.

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