EDLOS Posted November 5, 2013 #1 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Some observations on recent 11 day cruise on Noordam. Good News ! No problems with toilet flushing issues in my cabin and did not hear any complaints from fellow cruisers, nor did I detect any odors in any public areas as well. (Reported on previous Noordam posts) All crew from cabin stewards to dining staff pleasant and responsive. Food overall good in MDR but never hot enough for me, but I have had the same problem on Regent, Silverseas, Oceania as well. The Pinnacle dinner was excellent ( veal chop) but service doesn't match the food. The staff always seem to be elsewhere when you want more water or wine. The antipasto in Caneletto is as good as it gets and service to match. Cabin: Noodam definitely needs refurbishing, laminate on desk chipped, arms on loveseat threadbare, base of table stained and water marked, etc.,etc. all very obvious in my verandah cabin. Elevator walls chipped and scratched....Noordam looks tired... HAL, Shabby Sheik is not IN on cruise ships. Had a good time in spite of some of the above negatives, meeting, dining and sharing shore excursions with some great shipmates and a good crew! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollDoll Posted November 5, 2013 #2 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Does anyone know if it's scheduled for dry dock in the foreseeable future? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innlady1 Posted November 5, 2013 #3 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Some observations on recent 11 day cruise on Noordam.Good News ! No problems with toilet flushing issues in my cabin and did not hear any complaints from fellow cruisers, nor did I detect any odors in any public areas as well. (Reported on previous Noordam posts) All crew from cabin stewards to dining staff pleasant and responsive. Food overall good in MDR but never hot enough for me, but I have had the same problem on Regent, Silverseas, Oceania as well. The Pinnacle dinner was excellent ( veal chop) but service doesn't match the food. The staff always seem to be elsewhere when you want more water or wine. The antipasto in Caneletto is as good as it gets and service to match. Cabin: Noodam definitely needs refurbishing, laminate on desk chipped, arms on loveseat threadbare, base of table stained and water marked, etc., etc. all very obvious in my verandah cabin. Elevator walls chipped and scratched....Noordam looks tired... HAL, Shabby Sheik is not IN on cruise ships. Had a good time in spite of some of the above negatives, meeting, dining and sharing shore excursions with some great shipmates and a good crew! Very sad to hear this. We cruised on the Noordam the winter of '07...our 1st HAL cruise...and a year after her inaugural cruise. And cruised on her each winter for three years after that. I remember her as such a pristine ship. We're booked on her in February...and again in October. I wonder when she's scheduled for dry dock to take care of these issues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fouremco Posted November 5, 2013 #4 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Either the Noordam has deteriorated very quickly since we last disembarked in March of this year or we were lucky with our cabin. Although there were minor signs of use, it wasn't at all shabby or worse for wear. Can't say that I noticed any particular problems with the common areas of the ship either, but 8 months of hard use can change things quite a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typhoon1 Posted November 5, 2013 #5 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Does anyone know if it's scheduled for dry dock in the foreseeable future? The entire fleet is dry docked at some point in the future. It's part of routine maintenance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkNC Posted November 5, 2013 #6 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Glad to hear the cruise went well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaofami Posted November 6, 2013 #7 Share Posted November 6, 2013 I'm on Noordam for 21 days in January and not happy to hear what you're reporting. I hope it isn't ship wide shabby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Himself Posted November 6, 2013 #8 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Thanks for the report Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comfortcove Posted November 6, 2013 #9 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Yikes, we sail next month on the Noordam, after a several year absence from HAL. I hope it is not shabby. I thought the Noordam had a partial refurb not too long ago. I will report back when we return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruz chic Posted November 6, 2013 #10 Share Posted November 6, 2013 I didn't notice it being shabby in feb but I did have toilet flushing issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare erewhon Posted November 6, 2013 #11 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Thank you for your report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollDoll Posted November 6, 2013 #12 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Were the flushing problems in a particular area, or ship wide? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamwiz82 Posted November 6, 2013 #13 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Shabby is a VERY subjective term. Do you have any photos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nutensteve Posted November 6, 2013 #14 Share Posted November 6, 2013 We were on the Noordam in September and found her to be in great shape. Glad you had a good cruise though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaofami Posted November 6, 2013 #15 Share Posted November 6, 2013 We were on the Noordam in September and found her to be in great shape. Glad you had a good cruise though. Thank you for posting that. It's encouraging. Maasdam and Noordam are my two favorite Hal ships. I haven't been on Noordam for several years and am looking forward to my 21 day cruise on her next January. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeriatricNurse Posted November 6, 2013 #16 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Does anyone know if it's scheduled for dry dock in the foreseeable future? Using the 'Search' function here on CCB; according to a post from 'Copper 10-8', dated October 19, 2012, to a thread here on the HAL CCB forum, the 'Noordam' was scheduled for a drydock in Palermo, Sicily from April 8 - 20, 2013! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alwaysfrantic Posted November 6, 2013 #17 Share Posted November 6, 2013 It had to have had some sort of rehab recently because the retreat cabanas and the new cabins were added. I don't know if they cleaned up the rest of the ship at that time as well though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovely other Posted November 6, 2013 #18 Share Posted November 6, 2013 I was on the Noordam last month and found the ship to be in great condition. Our cabin was a little dated but condition was fine. A few toilet flushing issues occurred but were soon fixed. All the public areas were in good order and maintenance seemed to be constantly ongoing. I even saw the ceilings being scrubbed at one point. MDR service wasn't too hot especially on the last night when they seemed to be in a hurry to get rid of us but overall not too bad, and I'd still rather be there than here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seavoyage Posted November 6, 2013 #19 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Some observations on recent 11 day cruise on Noordam.Good News ! No problems with toilet flushing issues in my cabin and did not hear any complaints from fellow cruisers, nor did I detect any odors in any public areas as well. (Reported on previous Noordam posts) All crew from cabin stewards to dining staff pleasant and responsive. Food overall good in MDR but never hot enough for me, but I have had the same problem on Regent, Silverseas, Oceania as well. The Pinnacle dinner was excellent ( veal chop) but service doesn't match the food. The staff always seem to be elsewhere when you want more water or wine. The antipasto in Caneletto is as good as it gets and service to match. Cabin: Noodam definitely needs refurbishing, laminate on desk chipped, arms on loveseat threadbare, base of table stained and water marked, etc.,etc. all very obvious in my verandah cabin. Elevator walls chipped and scratched....Noordam looks tired... HAL, Shabby Sheik is not IN on cruise ships. Had a good time in spite of some of the above negatives, meeting, dining and sharing shore excursions with some great shipmates and a good crew! Hello Edlos - thank you for your review. Do you recall what nights were formal and what night they had LeCirque in the Pinnacle? Thank you in advance for your kind reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winters in NZ Posted November 6, 2013 #20 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Thanks for your candid observations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruz chic Posted November 6, 2013 #21 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Were the flushing problems in a particular area, or ship wide? For me it was several cabins in my area. IIRC my cabin number was 7004. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishop84 Posted November 6, 2013 #22 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Does anyone know if it's scheduled for dry dock in the foreseeable future? They tend to follow a 2 and 3 year cycle so based on the last dry dockings in 2010 and 2013 I would guess she is next due in 2015. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicnana Posted November 6, 2013 #23 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Glad everything turned out for you on the Noordam. My spouse and I will be onboard March 10th and need to know when the formal nights are scheduled. Our cruise is for 11 days in the Caribbean. We are definitely looking forward to this trip as the last HAL cruise we were on was the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDLOS Posted November 6, 2013 Author #24 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Glad everything turned out for you on the Noordam. My spouse and I will be onboard March 10th and need to know when the formal nights are scheduled. Our cruise is for 11 days in the Caribbean. We are definitely looking forward to this trip as the last HAL cruise we were on was the best. The formal nights are almost always on Sea Days giving the ladies time to primp/visit Hair Salon, etc. We happened to board and overnight in Athens and that was our 3rd formal night which was not good timing with lifeboat drill and people off the ship all day and wanting to be on deck for an aft Sail Away. I went to Canelettos with just a blazer..... and the other two formals were on our two SEA Days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDLOS Posted November 6, 2013 Author #25 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Either the Noordam has deteriorated very quickly since we last disembarked in March of this year or we were lucky with our cabin. Although there were minor signs of use, it wasn't at all shabby or worse for wear. Can't say that I noticed any particular problems with the common areas of the ship either, but 8 months of hard use can change things quite a bit. [/quote I can only report on my cabin. Did not visit any others and the elevators positively were banged up and the color scheme is 1990's i.e. carpeting, furnishings. Still had a GOOD time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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