Just back from the Westerdam-- Christmas cruise

[sheltielover256]

Our family of six consisting of my husband and I, our 23 year old son, and our 21, 17, and 14 year old daughters just returned from a Christmas cruise on the Westerdam—December 21-28. We had a great time and I thought I’d leave a few stream-of conscious thoughts before I forget everything! Also, most of our prior cruises have been on Carnival, so I’ll make comparisons if I think about it. Please don’t hesitate to post questions if you think of them – I’ll check back periodically for the next couple of weeks. Since this review is long, I’ll break it into sections.

Background: As a family, we have been on about 6 cruises (including this one) with the prior three being on Carnival. We live in Florida, so taking a cruise is a convenient and fairly economical vacation choice. However, after our last Carnival cruise in 2009, we decided that we were done with cruising. Some friends told us to try HAL or Princess, and the Westerdam had some pretty good promotions in November, so I booked three rooms for the Christmas cruise.

 

Embarkation: We drove down from Orlando and got to Port Everglades about 12:30pm. My husband dropped us off with our luggage and parked in the parking garage. The porter took our bags and two 24 packs of diet coke without batting an eye, so if you are worried about bringing on soda, it doesn’t seem to pose a problem at this time. We were in out cabins by 1:30 which I thought was pretty cool. Totally painless.

 

Ship: I thought the ship was lovely. It isn’t as over the top or opulent as some of the Carnival ships we’ve been on, but there was pretty artwork everywhere, and I liked the understated elegance. I know that some of the recent reviews complained of wear and tear and as a result, I was actually looking for problems. This is what I found: there is a little carpet wear in some areas; some of the wooden dance floors could use refinishing; a few chairs in the Crows’ Nest are past their prime; and there was a ceiling drip on deck two near the main dining room which I discovered as I was sitting on a sofa waiting for my kids to meet me. Other than those things (which were really minor), the ship looked terrific to me. Of course, I didn’t see everything, but if you are concerned that this ship is falling apart, rest assured, it is not. I loved the size of this ship – the last cruise we were on was the Carnival Triumph (before its problems!) and it seemed so large and crowded—the Westerdam’s size suited me better.

 

Staterooms: We got rooms 4058, 4060, and 4062 which are obstructed view rooms on the Upper Promenade deck. I chose these rooms because, at the time I booked, they were the least expensive rooms left that were all next to each other. The views in 4058 and 4060 are completely obscured by lifeboats and the view in 4062 is mostly obscured. Also, ambient light wafts up from the promenade deck on level three so in order to sleep it is necessary to close the drapes (which worked nicely). The rooms are church-quiet, and I don’t know if it was merely the result of extremely courteous neighbors, but we heard nothing from other passengers in the hallways at night. I have no hesitation in recommending deck four, although I would probably opt for either a balcony for a view (If you don’t have to pay for three cabins:p) or an inside room to save a little money. The cabins were fine although we were told that we needed to put the “Please Service” card in the door in order to have it cleaned. That was new to me and I don’t know if it is a new thing the cruise lines are doing, but it seemed strange. Anyway, after I complained when the room had not yet been serviced by 2PM on the second day (that’s when I was told that we needed to put in the card), it was cleaned right away every time. I had heard that the rooms were uncomfortably warm, and indeed, I would have preferred the room a few degrees cooler, even though we kept the thermostat as cool as possible. I am very cold natured and live in Orlando, so I can imagine that a person from a cooler climate would have found the temperature oppressive. I found the common areas on the ship to be too cold.

 

Dining: This was a cruise, and there was food everywhere. I don’t generally review food because taste is too subjective. Some things I liked, some not so much. The selection was generous. We had asked for fixed early seating, but got assigned to anytime dining instead. We never had to wait for a table for six and when we went early (before 6:15 or so) we got nice window tables. Every now and then I felt that we were rushed through dinner a little. I also missed having the same server every evening. My daughters preferred the anytime seating over fixed because they could primp for dinner as long as they wanted. We ate lunch in the Lido every day and found the selection to be good. There were some interesting salads and my daughter loved the rueben (sp?) sandwiches. There was a taco/nacho bar on the deck, but every single time I visited, they were either out of nacho cheese (empty container), or had none. That was fine with me, because there were plenty of other selections, but I thought it strange. One complaint I had about the Lido was the ridiculously small size of the iced tea glasses. They were the size of juice glasses—seriously 3-4 ounces. Since you can’t usually serve yourself, the glasses were filled with ice before tea was added which left about two swallows of tea per glass which is not enough—especially when returning, hot and exhausted, from a shore excursion. We kept having to get up to grab more tea and by the end of lunch there would be dozens of tiny glasses cluttering up our table. There were normal size glasses in the state room and some of the water glasses on the Lido were larger, but for some reason, HAL was skimping on iced tea on this cruise. I know it seems petty, but the constant jumping up from the table to get more tea really bothered me and could affect my decision to book another HAL cruise.

 

Entertainment: We went to a couple of shows and I thought the singers and dancers were good. The comedian was okay, but most of his jokes were about potties. (Seriously, my son said he counted about sixty potty jokes). He was funniest when interacting with the audience. The magician was terrific and I only wish I had gotten to the theater earlier so that I could have gotten a better seat. Instead, I was way at the back sitting at the bar. The magician did a smaller show in the Queen’s lounge later in the week and that was fun as well. The BB King band was good although I didn’t spend much time actually sitting a listening to them. The violinist/piano due that played near the dining ***** each evening (Adagio, I think) was wonderful ! Ross, the cruise director was fine, albeit he seemed slightly bored at times. There didn’t seem to be a ton of different assistant cruise directors like on Carnival, and Ross seemed to be everywhere. Frankly, there seemed to be fewer activities per unit time than on the Carnival ships—the Westerdam seemed less frenetic and much more of a laid back . I went to one cooking demonstration and it seemed interesting. I would have gone to more of them, but my husband and kids were bored. We went to all the trivia contests – generally one on the Crow’s Nest and one pub trivia each night and those got more fun as time went by and the teams got to know each other. My 14 and 17 year old daughters went to the teen club and loved it. I think my 21 and 23 year old kids liked hanging out with us, but they didn’t find others their age to hang with, although I think there were other people their ages on board.

 

Ports: This cruise visited Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas, and Half Moon cay. I had never visited any of these ports. We had planned to rent bicycles in Grand Turk, but a huge Carnival ship was in port before the Westerdam and all the bikes were gone. There were plenty of motor scooters available and they looked fun, but I was a little concerned about my kids driving them so we decided against renting them. In hindsight, I think it would have been great. We walked into Cockburn Town, but it took longer than I thought it would take (3-4 miles) and on a very hot day it would be too warm for a walk. The town is fun and we visited the prison, walked on the beach, and bought a few things from the markets. The cab ride back to the ship is 4 or 5 dollars per person – I can’t remember exactly. There is a beach within easy walking distance from the pier (about one mile) that looked very pretty and lots of people just walked there. In San Juan, we took a two hour bus tour (about $20 pp) that took us around San Juan and ended up at one of the forts. We walked to the other fort and then back into the town (the walk is all down hill). The shopping was good in San Juan, and my daughters liked that stop the best. In St. Thomas, another bus tour took us to a few photo stops and back into town to shop. St. Thomas is beautiful. Half Moon Cay is one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. The water is almost completely clear.

 

Conclusions: Overall, I liked this cruise better than the Carnival cruises we’ve been on. Although I have no plans to book another cruise any time soon, I would definitely consider Holland America. My younger two kids thought so too. However, my older two lean towards Carnival. I think they would have liked more “non-club” activities that would appeal to young adults. Anyway, let me know if you have any specific questions and I’ll try to answer them.

[sail7seas]

Nice review. I enjoyed reading it and could not agree more about the ridiculously small iced tea glasses. It's downright silly.

 

Welcome Back and thanks for sharing your review with us.

 

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post a review of your Westerdam Christmas cruise. Sounds like it turned out well for your family.

[limace]

Thanks for your review! A question for experienced HAL folks: would it be possible to bring your own larger class for iced tea?

[cruz chic]

Thanks for your review. I enjoyed reading your balanced review.

[KirkNC]

Our family of six consisting of my husband and I, our 23 year old son, and our 21, 17, and 14 year old daughters just returned from a Christmas cruise on the Westerdam—December 21-28. We had a great time and I thought I’d leave a few stream-of conscious thoughts before I forget everything! Also, most of our prior cruises have been on Carnival, so I’ll make comparisons if I think about it. Please don’t hesitate to post questions if you think of them – I’ll check back periodically for the next couple of weeks. Since this review is long, I’ll break it into sections.

Background: As a family, we have been on about 6 cruises (including this one) with the prior three being on Carnival. We live in Florida, so taking a cruise is a convenient and fairly economical vacation choice. However, after our last Carnival cruise in 2009, we decided that we were done with cruising. Some friends told us to try HAL or Princess, and the Westerdam had some pretty good promotions in November, so I booked three rooms for the Christmas cruise.

 

Embarkation: We drove down from Orlando and got to Port Everglades about 12:30pm. My husband dropped us off with our luggage and parked in the parking garage. The porter took our bags and two 24 packs of diet coke without batting an eye, so if you are worried about bringing on soda, it doesn’t seem to pose a problem at this time. We were in out cabins by 1:30 which I thought was pretty cool. Totally painless.

 

Ship: I thought the ship was lovely. It isn’t as over the top or opulent as some of the Carnival ships we’ve been on, but there was pretty artwork everywhere, and I liked the understated elegance. I know that some of the recent reviews complained of wear and tear and as a result, I was actually looking for problems. This is what I found: there is a little carpet wear in some areas; some of the wooden dance floors could use refinishing; a few chairs in the Crows’ Nest are past their prime; and there was a ceiling drip on deck two near the main dining room which I discovered as I was sitting on a sofa waiting for my kids to meet me. Other than those things (which were really minor), the ship looked terrific to me. Of course, I didn’t see everything, but if you are concerned that this ship is falling apart, rest assured, it is not. I loved the size of this ship – the last cruise we were on was the Carnival Triumph (before its problems!) and it seemed so large and crowded—the Westerdam’s size suited me better.

 

Staterooms: We got rooms 4058, 4060, and 4062 which are obstructed view rooms on the Upper Promenade deck. I chose these rooms because, at the time I booked, they were the least expensive rooms left that were all next to each other. The views in 4058 and 4060 are completely obscured by lifeboats and the view in 4062 is mostly obscured. Also, ambient light wafts up from the promenade deck on level three so in order to sleep it is necessary to close the drapes (which worked nicely). The rooms are church-quiet, and I don’t know if it was merely the result of extremely courteous neighbors, but we heard nothing from other passengers in the hallways at night. I have no hesitation in recommending deck four, although I would probably opt for either a balcony for a view (If you don’t have to pay for three cabins:p) or an inside room to save a little money. The cabins were fine although we were told that we needed to put the “Please Service” card in the door in order to have it cleaned. That was new to me and I don’t know if it is a new thing the cruise lines are doing, but it seemed strange. Anyway, after I complained when the room had not yet been serviced by 2PM on the second day (that’s when I was told that we needed to put in the card), it was cleaned right away every time. I had heard that the rooms were uncomfortably warm, and indeed, I would have preferred the room a few degrees cooler, even though we kept the thermostat as cool as possible. I am very cold natured and live in Orlando, so I can imagine that a person from a cooler climate would have found the temperature oppressive. I found the common areas on the ship to be too cold.

 

Dining: This was a cruise, and there was food everywhere. I don’t generally review food because taste is too subjective. Some things I liked, some not so much. The selection was generous. We had asked for fixed early seating, but got assigned to anytime dining instead. We never had to wait for a table for six and when we went early (before 6:15 or so) we got nice window tables. Every now and then I felt that we were rushed through dinner a little. I also missed having the same server every evening. My daughters preferred the anytime seating over fixed because they could primp for dinner as long as they wanted. We ate lunch in the Lido every day and found the selection to be good. There were some interesting salads and my daughter loved the rueben (sp?) sandwiches. There was a taco/nacho bar on the deck, but every single time I visited, they were either out of nacho cheese (empty container), or had none. That was fine with me, because there were plenty of other selections, but I thought it strange. One complaint I had about the Lido was the ridiculously small size of the iced tea glasses. They were the size of juice glasses—seriously 3-4 ounces. Since you can’t usually serve yourself, the glasses were filled with ice before tea was added which left about two swallows of tea per glass which is not enough—especially when returning, hot and exhausted, from a shore excursion. We kept having to get up to grab more tea and by the end of lunch there would be dozens of tiny glasses cluttering up our table. There were normal size glasses in the state room and some of the water glasses on the Lido were larger, but for some reason, HAL was skimping on iced tea on this cruise. I know it seems petty, but the constant jumping up from the table to get more tea really bothered me and could affect my decision to book another HAL cruise.

 

Entertainment: We went to a couple of shows and I thought the singers and dancers were good. The comedian was okay, but most of his jokes were about potties. (Seriously, my son said he counted about sixty potty jokes). He was funniest when interacting with the audience. The magician was terrific and I only wish I had gotten to the theater earlier so that I could have gotten a better seat. Instead, I was way at the back sitting at the bar. The magician did a smaller show in the Queen’s lounge later in the week and that was fun as well. The BB King band was good although I didn’t spend much time actually sitting a listening to them. The violinist/piano due that played near the dining ***** each evening (Adagio, I think) was wonderful ! Ross, the cruise director was fine, albeit he seemed slightly bored at times. There didn’t seem to be a ton of different assistant cruise directors like on Carnival, and Ross seemed to be everywhere. Frankly, there seemed to be fewer activities per unit time than on the Carnival ships—the Westerdam seemed less frenetic and much more of a laid back . I went to one cooking demonstration and it seemed interesting. I would have gone to more of them, but my husband and kids were bored. We went to all the trivia contests – generally one on the Crow’s Nest and one pub trivia each night and those got more fun as time went by and the teams got to know each other. My 14 and 17 year old daughters went to the teen club and loved it. I think my 21 and 23 year old kids liked hanging out with us, but they didn’t find others their age to hang with, although I think there were other people their ages on board.

 

Ports: This cruise visited Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas, and Half Moon cay. I had never visited any of these ports. We had planned to rent bicycles in Grand Turk, but a huge Carnival ship was in port before the Westerdam and all the bikes were gone. There were plenty of motor scooters available and they looked fun, but I was a little concerned about my kids driving them so we decided against renting them. In hindsight, I think it would have been great. We walked into Cockburn Town, but it took longer than I thought it would take (3-4 miles) and on a very hot day it would be too warm for a walk. The town is fun and we visited the prison, walked on the beach, and bought a few things from the markets. The cab ride back to the ship is 4 or 5 dollars per person – I can’t remember exactly. There is a beach within easy walking distance from the pier (about one mile) that looked very pretty and lots of people just walked there. In San Juan, we took a two hour bus tour (about $20 pp) that took us around San Juan and ended up at one of the forts. We walked to the other fort and then back into the town (the walk is all down hill). The shopping was good in San Juan, and my daughters liked that stop the best. In St. Thomas, another bus tour took us to a few photo stops and back into town to shop. St. Thomas is beautiful. Half Moon Cay is one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. The water is almost completely clear.

 

Conclusions: Overall, I liked this cruise better than the Carnival cruises we’ve been on. Although I have no plans to book another cruise any time soon, I would definitely consider Holland America. My younger two kids thought so too. However, my older two lean towards Carnival. I think they would have liked more “non-club” activities that would appeal to young adults. Anyway, let me know if you have any specific questions and I’ll try to answer them.

 

Glad to hear your HAL experience went well!

[swom]

Loved your review. We haven't been on the Westie before so love reading review of this ship.

[erewhon]

Thank you for your review.

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

[Thebes]

Thanks for the nice report :)

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome Home

Sounds as though you enjoyed your first HAL cruise.

Yes -- the glasses for water and iced tea are small.

[kazu]

Thanks for your review! A question for experienced HAL folks: would it be possible to bring your own larger class for iced tea?

 

Thanks for the review. Well done and enjoyable.

 

As to the question above - yes. Some bring a thermos type mug (or buy one onboard) and use it.

[regnig]

As to the question above - yes. Some bring a thermos type mug (or buy one onboard) and use it.

 

Yep, I'm one of those people. I have a thermal "Bubba" (that's the real brand name) and I've never had a problem with having them fill it. The bartenders at the Sea View Bar also happily fill it with ice for me and then I use my own soda.

[catl331]

live and learn! I bought a lg insulated HAL cup and pour two or more ice teas in it. At first I got a inquiring look from the waiter but since I don't drink soda this is now my habit on every cruise.

 

I think Carnival is for the younger crowd who like loud music and crazy games. Probably since this was a full Xmas cruise some activities were curbed. Sounds like the cruise director was busy. We were on a cruise on the Zuiderdam with daughter and husband and there were cutsey games for them. i.e. hitting golf balls into the pool and some other sports things. This was back in the day of rewarding Dam dollars for winning and they sure cleaned up on HAL goodies. They were happy about finding peace and quiet and relaxing though.

Hal ships tending to be more European in décor--nothing garish other than the blazing red dining room on the Nieuw Amsterdam!

Thanks for your review.

[sheltielover256]

I did notice people with their own cups on the Lido -- I suppose those who were well informed! I wonder if the Lido staff will frown on refilling a mug-- there are signs at the drink station advising against re-using glasses?

[swom]

I did notice people with their own cups on the Lido -- I suppose those who were well informed! I wonder if the Lido staff will frown on refilling a mug-- there are signs at the drink station advising against re-using glasses?

 

That's a very good point!!!

[IRL_Joanie]

I'm still reading your Review, and want to stop and mention this before I forget it........

 

Nacho Cheese at the Taco Bar is not available until 2:00pm for some stupid reason, per the Executive Chef his boass (cannot remember the title at the moment) HAL in their infinite wisdom, does not understand that Nacho Cheese (Liquid Cheese) belongs on the Taco Bar at all times that there are Taco Makings!!

 

One other thing is that HAL Corporate (could it be Rudi who does not know, and yet sets these rules?), has decided that at 2:00pm every day when they bring the Nacho Cheese out they also remove the Guacamole and the Sour Cream:(

 

Now, from our experience, and tastes, a plate of Nachos consists of: A little Nacho Cheese on the plate, to kleep the Nachos from sliding around, Nacho Chips, Meat, Salsa, Nacho Cheese, Onions, Black Olives, Sour Cream, Guacamole and a few more (OK A LOT of Black Olives.

 

But, as I stated above, at 2:00pm on HAL the guacamole and Sour Cream are removed and replaced at that time by Nacho Cheese:( So, if you are like us, and want Sour Cream and Guacamole to make your Nachos, Go and grab a couple of small bowls (or drink glasses) and get the Guacamole and Sour Cream BEFORE 2:00pm, then you can make them with all the correct (IMO) Ingredients to make Real Nachos!!

 

EDITED TO ADD: Regarding the small glasses: IF you are so inclined, youu can go to the Sea View Bar and ask for a water glass. For some reason they DO have the larger glasses there. Our friends, whom we cruised with this last time showed us how to do it because they were also not happy with the regular juice glasses.

 

Joanie

Edited December 29, 2013 by IRL_Joanie
Added about Glasses

[sheltielover256]

I'm still reading your Review, and want to stop and mention this before I forget it........

 

Nacho Cheese at the Taco Bar is not available until 2:00pm for some stupid reason, per the Executive Chef his boass (cannot remember the title at the moment) HAL in their infinite wisdom, does not understand that Nacho Cheese (Liquid Cheese) belongs on the Taco Bar at all times that there are Taco Makings!!

 

One other thing is that HAL Corporate (could it be Rudi who does not know, and yet sets these rules?), has decided that at 2:00pm every day when they bring the Nacho Cheese out they also remove the Guacamole and the Sour Cream:(

 

Now, from our experience, and tastes, a plate of Nachos consists of: A little Nacho Cheese on the plate, to kleep the Nachos from sliding around, Nacho Chips, Meat, Salsa, Nacho Cheese, Onions, Black Olives, Sour Cream, Guacamole and a few more (OK A LOT of Black Olives.

 

But, as I stated above, at 2:00pm on HAL the guacamole and Sour Cream are removed and replaced at that time by Nacho Cheese:( So, if you are like us, and want Sour Cream and Guacamole to make your Nachos, Go and grab a couple of small bowls (or drink glasses) and get the Guacamole and Sour Cream BEFORE 2:00pm, then you can make them with all the correct (IMO) Ingredients to make Real Nachos!!

 

EDITED TO ADD: Regarding the small glasses: IF you are so inclined, youu can go to the Sea View Bar and ask for a water glass. For some reason they DO have the larger glasses there. Our friends, whom we cruised with this last time showed us how to do it because they were also not happy with the regular juice glasses.

 

Joanie

 

This is so funny. I keep thinking of a room full of industrial engineers discussing the timing of the nacho cheese on the taco bar.

 

I whined a little to my husband about the nacho cheese and he was utterly amazed that I would squander my hunger on nachos when so many other things were available. Glad to see that somebody shares my love of a good plate of nachos Joanie!

[regnig]

I'm still reading your Review, and want to stop and mention this before I forget it........................

 

But, as I stated above, at 2:00pm on HAL the guacamole and Sour Cream are removed and replaced at that time by Nacho Cheese:( So, if you are like us, and want Sour Cream and Guacamole to make your Nachos, Go and grab a couple of small bowls (or drink glasses) and get the Guacamole and Sour Cream BEFORE 2:00pm, then you can make them with all the correct (IMO) Ingredients to make Real Nachos!!

 

Joanie

 

Well Joanie I'd say that was just unbelievable but that must have been exactly what DH encountered last March. Now that you have provided the details he can get his Nachos/Tacos with all the stuff he wants by making 2 quick trips timed correctly. Thanks bunches!!:D

[Hlitner]

Thanks for your review! A question for experienced HAL folks: would it be possible to bring your own larger class for iced tea?

 

LOL! That is a great question and the general answer is yes, you can bring your own glass/cup and most likely they will refuse to fill you glass. When they have a staff member filling the glasses (which happens too often in the Lido) he will most likely refuse to touch your glass because of health issues. They also try to prevent folks from even refilling a glass (you are supposed to use a new clean glass). HAL does all this stuff as part of their extensive program of Norovirus avoidance. Whether all these efforts pay-off is something open to debate.

 

What you can do is bring your own glass, take 3 or 4 of the HAL mini-glasses and the pour them into your glass :). During the times when nobody from the crew is filling the glasses (and holding up everyone) you can certainly try to fill your own (unless an energetic crew person catches you.

 

Hank

[sue4me55]

In San Juan, we took a two hour bus tour (about $20 pp) that took us around San Juan and ended up at one of the forts. We walked to the other fort and then back into the town (the walk is all down hill). The shopping was good in San Juan, and my daughters liked that stop the best. In St. Thomas, another bus tour took us to a few photo stops and back into town to shop. St. Thomas is beautiful. Half Moon Cay is one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. The water is almost completely clear.

Loved your review. Can you please provide a little more info re: 2 hour tour

[TravelingEnthusiast]

Hi there -

 

I appreciated your updated post, especially about the teen club. I was searching for some, and could only find outdated reviews. Did the teens club have structured activities, or was it just a hang-out? Was it supervised?

 

Also, for some of the activities, trivia (during the day), magician, etc.; can teens attend those with their parents? My daughter will be 14 when we cruise, and she loves playing trivia, magic shows, etc.? I can't tell if those are adult only events, or if she could join us?

 

Thanks!