Just Back - Noordam 10 night Caribbean

[WeLoveCruising]

We're just back from another fabulous cruise on the Noordam!

 

In terms of background, my husband and I are 4 star Mariners and have been on numerous HAL cruises. We sailed this time with our 22 year old son, and his good friend (like a second son to us) as a belated college graduation present. Our son is a 3 star Mariner (he's been cruising HAL with us since he was a kid), and it was his friend's first cruise.

 

The ship is in fantastic condition. We had an VA aft stateroom, and the boys had one of the "J" insides on Main Deck. Their stateroom was bigger than ours (minus the verandah), those Main Deck J's are as large as I've heard. Our room was on Deck 8, under the aft Lido pool. There was limited noise from chairs being dragged in the morning and evening, I noticed it, but was never "bothered" by it.

 

IMHO food and service can be very subjective, but we had some of the best in recent memories (Except for one Lobster Thermador meal on the second formal night. Mine was virtually inedible). To follow up on a recent thread here, I can vouch that the first night "prime rib" was indeed served with a BBQ sauce. The more traditional "au jus" prime rib meal was served the night of the deck BBQ, which was in Curacao for us. The food at the Lido continues to pleasantly surprise me, I'm a fan of the Asian stirfry station.

 

The big dining highlight of the cruise was the specialty restauarants. The Pinnacle Grill was one of the best I've ever visited, and Canelleto was a delight both in food quality and service.

 

For ports, we unfortunately had to miss HMC due to wave heights. Very sad, as it is our favorite beach, and also that this time we were supposed to meet friends that were sailing on the Nieuw Amersterdam and sharing the port day with us. They didn't make it either.

 

Grand Turk was a typical beach day. Samana' in the Domincan Republic was another highlight for us. I had done research ahead of time and booked an ATV excursion tour with Tours by Terry because I thought the boys would like it. One of the best tours we've ever done! We rented a car in Bonaire and had fun driving around, and shopping at a brand new large Dutch supermarket where we stocked up on European chocolates. In Curacao we walked the shops a bit, and we spent the day at Eagle Beach in Aruba.

 

The crew and staff on Noordam do a fantastic job and we were sorry to leave. Please let me know if you have any specific questiosn and I'll do my best to answer.

[WeLoveCruising]

A few other interesting tidbits to add......

 

1. On the last night home, the officers spotted a small fishing boat that was lost at sea. The Captain turned the ship around to find it and assisted the two men aboard by giving them supplies, and faciliating their journey back to their "mother ship". Kudos to Captain Scott and the Noordam crew!

 

2. Unrelated to #1, but I also noticed that the bar drink menu has changed. They introduced several new drinks about a month ago (so sayeth the bartenders). None were that enticing to me, but at the mixology class I learned how to make and tasted the "Strawberry Basil Bellisimo". That one gets a big thumbs up! The drinks of the day had all been changed to the newly introduced drinks.

[VermeulT]

Thanks for your review.

I am looking forward to making this same trip next Dec.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome home.

Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

Yes -- the new bar menus were introduced in the middle of our 21 day cruise on the Noordam -- Nov 21.

I posted the menu here on CC.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[mountainmare]

Thank you for your review--we're on the same itinerary in January.

I really appreciate the heads up about the prime rib. We have a tour with Terry booked, hope to rent a car in Curacao and bus to Eagle beach in Aruba. In Aruba did you pick Amsterdam Manor? How crowded was it, was thinking of snorkeling at Arishta(sp??) first.

[sail7seas]

Welcome Back, We Love.

 

We were so disappointed to not be able to meet up with you. We had looked forward to it. Noordam followed closely behind us as we approached HMC and I saw her veer off just as Captain came on the speaker system to say it was not safe to drop tenders. DH and I had watched from our veranda and it was clear swells were too high. We did wave fondly to you and wish you a great cruise on the beautiful Noordam. :) (Our friend who was cruising with us REALLY looked forward to seeing you and your DH.... we were all looking forward to it so there was disappointment.)

 

We were fortunate to have stopped at HMC our first week of our Collector's cruise so at least got to put our toes in the lovely sand.

 

It sounds like Noordam is still very special...... we certainly thought so in March.

 

Thanks for the review.

 

[WeLoveCruising]

Thank you for your review--we're on the same itinerary in January.

I really appreciate the heads up about the prime rib. We have a tour with Terry booked, hope to rent a car in Curacao and bus to Eagle beach in Aruba. In Aruba did you pick Amsterdam Manor? How crowded was it, was thinking of snorkeling at Arishta(sp??) first.

 

I hope you enjoy Terry's tour as much as we did. He was doing a number of different tours that day, so we didn't have him personally as our guide, but he made a point to meet up with each tour at some point throughout the day and say hello. He's a very interesting guy.

 

In Aruba, we just took a taxi to Eagle Beach, and were let off at a taxi drop area. It was very convenient and not at all crowded. We rented chairs there for 2 for $15 and there was also a little snack truck nearby. We had no problems finding a taxi back to the ship.

[WeLoveCruising]

Welcome Back, We Love.

 

We were so disappointed to not be able to meet up with you. We had looked forward to it. Noordam followed closely behind us as we approached HMC and I saw her veer off just as Captain came on the speaker system to say it was not safe to drop tenders. DH and I had watched from our veranda and it was clear swells were too high. We did wave fondly to you and wish you a great cruise on the beautiful Noordam. :) (Our friend who was cruising with us REALLY looked forward to seeing you and your DH.... we were all looking forward to it so there was disappointment.)

 

We were fortunate to have stopped at HMC our first week of our Collector's cruise so at least got to put our toes in the lovely sand.

 

It sounds like Noordam is still very special...... we certainly thought so in March.

 

Thanks for the review.

 

 

Oh, we were both so disappointed, too! So close. I was standing by the elevator, towel in hand, ready to go to the tender when they announced it.

 

Our Captain said you all were using the island tenders so we had to use our ship tenders, and that if you all couldn't do it safely with the island tenders there was no way he would allow us to use the ship tenders.

 

Weather was a little rough for a few days - the outside promenade deck was closed several nights during our cruise.

[WeLoveCruising]

Welcome home.

 

Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

 

Yes -- the new bar menus were introduced in the middle of our 21 day cruise on the Noordam -- Nov 21.

 

I posted the menu here on CC.

 

Thanks KK. I must have missed that but I dont come around here nearly as much as I used to. Did you try any? I'm curious what you thought. I tried a few of them at the mixology class, and also won a few drinks of the day at Name That Tune. My favorite was the Strawberry Basil one, some were ok, and others I didnt care for at all.

[cruiseapril]

Enjoyed your review. Interested in your activities in Samana. Have never been there.

[schauki]

Hi,

 

Thank you for the review.

We will be on this trip end of february, and I hope we can tender to HMC.

 

The next stop after HMC is Grand Turk and arriving time is 12:00 noon.

Does this time change because of missing HMC?

 

best

Richard

[WeLoveCruising]

Enjoyed your review. Interested in your activities in Samana. Have never been there.

 

Samana is a small town, and not nearly as developed as the other ports. I imagine that people not on tour could be disappointed as there isn't much in the immediate port area.

 

We booked a tour with Tours with Terry. Terry is an American living in Samana. Our tour was the ATV tour, which was about 5 hours. It included driving the ATV both on and off road through the countryside and residential areas, stopping at a local fruit stand. We ended up at a beach where lunch was served in a sand floor restaurant, and then went on a hike to a waterfall. We swam in the waterfall, visited a small farm and sampled more local fruit, and then made it back to the ship. He has other tours available, too but I dont want to sound like I'm adverstising too much for him here! I'm sure you can find info by googling him.

[WeLoveCruising]

Hi,

 

Thank you for the review.

We will be on this trip end of february, and I hope we can tender to HMC.

 

The next stop after HMC is Grand Turk and arriving time is 12:00 noon.

Does this time change because of missing HMC?

 

best

Richard

 

 

Yes. It's rare, but not unheard of for a ship to miss calling at Halfmoon Cay because of the sea conditions. In all the cruises we've been on this is the first time it happened, but odds were just bound to catch up with us, I think. We arrived in Grand Turk around 8am, and HAL also refunded $18 per person in port fees, as well as provided a complimentary glass of champagne at dinner.

 

Disappointing, yes, but I appreciate them putting safety first. We just got some chairs by the pool and enjoyed the sun for the day.

[eldercruser]

Glad to hear things are shipshape on Noordam. We will be aboard in early February with the same itinerary. I suspect we might have a crew change about that time with a new HM and Master.

 

Do you recall who the HM was on your cruise?

[WeLoveCruising]

Glad to hear things are shipshape on Noordam. We will be aboard in early February with the same itinerary. I suspect we might have a crew change about that time with a new HM and Master.

 

Do you recall who the HM was on your cruise?

 

Yes, the Hotel Manager was Mark Pells

[sail7seas]

Glad to hear things are shipshape on Noordam. We will be aboard in early February with the same itinerary. I suspect we might have a crew change about that time with a new HM and Master.

 

<snip>

 

 

There is never an entire crew change at one time. They rotate on and off their vacation. Some return and some leave for vacation and some go to other ships but they never strip an entire crew.

 

[schauki]

Yes. It's rare, but not unheard of for a ship to miss calling at Halfmoon Cay because of the sea conditions. In all the cruises we've been on this is the first time it happened, but odds were just bound to catch up with us, I think. We arrived in Grand Turk around 8am, and HAL also refunded $18 per person in port fees, as well as provided a complimentary glass of champagne at dinner.

 

Disappointing, yes, but I appreciate them putting safety first. We just got some chairs by the pool and enjoyed the sun for the day.

 

Thank you for the answer.

We missed Isle de Pine in the sputh pacific 2009 and my girlfried was very sad.

 

And now I have chosen this trip but I don't read much about before. And afterwards I read about that sometimes (I think about 25%) tendering at HMC is not possible due to weather conditions.

When this happens in February I'll never be allowed to choose a trip again :D

 

But if the arriving at Grand turk (if we are able to dock) is about 4 hours earlier this could be a small compensation.

 

HMC is a tender port and it's company owned, funny that there will be a refund for port fees.

 

Yesterday I saw the noordam go out of port everglades, I can't wait to be on it!

 

best

Richard

[eldercruser]

There is never an entire crew change at one time. They rotate on and off their vacation. Some return and some leave for vacation and some go to other ships but they never strip an entire crew.

 

We Love - thanks so much for the information re Mr. Pells. I am afraid he may leave for vacation just before we arrive.

 

Yes. I am quite aware of the sequencing of the crew rotation. I have also been aboard the Noordam the past two February's just as the HM and Master rotated. Mark Pells had just come on board both times. The HAL special events office notified me we most likely would have a change in HM's for our cruise (I am coordinating the M&G). I was hoping Mr. Pells would be coming on board - not leaving. He has been a terrific HM the past two years.

[thetexasaggiecruiser]

Thanks so much for this review! We are on the Southern Caribbean cruise on the Noordam on Jan 2nd - with the other stops than yours - and we cannot wait. The food update was excellent, and I'm glad you all had a wonderful time.

[Himself]

There is never an entire crew change at one time. They rotate on and off their vacation. Some return and some leave for vacation and some go to other ships but they never strip an entire crew.

 

 

I think a handful get off at the completion of each voyage and they are replaced by some coming off of vacation.

[chopper65]

Thanks so much for this review! We are on the Southern Caribbean cruise on the Noordam on Jan 2nd - with the other stops than yours - and we cannot wait. The food update was excellent, and I'm glad you all had a wonderful time.

 

Glad to hear the Noordam is still shipshape. this will be our 3rd Noordam cruise. See you at the meet and greet on Jan 3

[CroozeDrs]

For those interested, a video clip of the boat rescue. Captain Hans was on by then, very impressed we were able to turn around and help them. Plus they found a 2nd lost boat shortly after. 4 lives saved.

 

 

 

A few other interesting tidbits to add......

 

1. On the last night home, the officers spotted a small fishing boat that was lost at sea. The Captain turned the ship around to find it and assisted the two men aboard by giving them supplies, and faciliating their journey back to their "mother ship". Kudos to Captain Scott and the Noordam crew!

 

2. Unrelated to #1, but I also noticed that the bar drink menu has changed. They introduced several new drinks about a month ago (so sayeth the bartenders). None were that enticing to me, but at the mixology class I learned how to make and tasted the "Strawberry Basil Bellisimo". That one gets a big thumbs up! The drinks of the day had all been changed to the newly introduced drinks.

[cobalt206]

Thanks for your great review. We are on the same itinerary on Noordam in March and are really looking forward to the trip.

 

I was wondering if you might have some input on the best nights to dine at the Pinnacle Grill? We don't want to miss lobster or osso bucco in the MDR or any other nights that may have great menus.

 

Thanks in advance if you can offer any insight.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review. We had a fantastic cruise on the noordam in 2010, glad to hear she can still deliver.