Our christmas cruise

[Howiehal]

Happy New Year Fellow Cruisers!

I have never written a review before, although I certainly have read many of them, so please forgive me if I don't use the proper term or structure here.

We have been on many, many cruises through the years starting in 1963 on a four day voyage from Miami to Nassau to Freeport on the old SS Florida. Since we are retired and live in Naples, Fl, we are fortunate to be able to take advantage of those Florida resident last minute deals. We usually sail two to three times a year on whatever opportunity comes along, so brand name is not that important to us.

We have sailed on most of the cruise lines except Holland American so we thought it was time to try one. We were a last minute addition to the manifest, booking on Wednesday and sailing on Saturday, but we living in Naples, it was an easy drive to get to the port. Boarding was smooth and fast and we found our cabin easily and it was ready for us. When I booked, I was going to book an inside cabin as is our usual choice, but noticed that there were outside cabins with obstructed views available at the same price. They looked to be a bit larger and had a larger tub/shower and a full floor to ceiling window. We were in cabin 4115 with its magnificent view of lifeboat number 11. Hey, the window let in lots of light and it was a roomy cabin with lots of hanging and shelf storage space, a fridge, a seat for the dressing table, and a good size sofa in addition to the king size bed.

Rather than bore you with minute by minute details of each day, just let me say that we were impressed by the attitude of the crew, the cleanliness and condition of the ship, and the organization on the private island, Half Moon Cay on Sunday.

I will go into a little detail about the crew, starting with Captain Frank van der Hoeven. We met him twice during the cruise and he impressed me as being in charge, but very friendly. The entire crew was one of the friendliest and courteous we have ever encountered. Nothing was too much trouble for them.

We were a late addition to the Roll Call for this cruise, but the organizer, Jo, (ffgjo) had her act together, even though she was already on the ship, or in Fort Lauderdale. There was a printed invitation to the Meet and Greet in our cabin when we arrived. Due to our late addition to this event, we knew that our name tags were going to be Sharpie stick-ons, but she had them ready for us at the Meet and Greet she had arranged with HAL at 10:00 AM on Monday. I thought they went out of their way to take care of us. There was a roped off private area in the rear of the port side of the Crows Nest Lounge for us with coffee, tea, cookies, etc all elegantly laid out and service provided by a couple of the dining staff. We were all getting acquainted , I think there were 28 of us there, when Cruise Director Michael Headla walked in and introduced himself and then to our surprise, introduced Captain Frank van der Hoeven and a couple of his staff offices who were with him. The Captain thanked us for sailing with HAL and expressed to us, as did Michael, how much they appreciate the Cruise Critic website and all it has to offer. I was most impressed with the way HAL handled this and the fact that the Captain attended. Thanks, Jo.

The ship was beautifully decorated for Christmas and it must have taken the crew many hours to accomplish that. There were Christmas Carol sing-alongs in the main deck Atrium, the Piano Bar, and of course in the Vista Lounge. The Christmas Eve show in the Vista Lounge was wonderful as we were treated to Christmas music and song from the Filipino Crew Choir, the Indonesian Crew Choir, and the International Crew Choir. The Captain gave us a Holiday Greeting and he and his staff stayed for the entire program. After the processional, the Captain, his Officers, and all the cast of the production lined the way out of the theater and all wished us a Merry Christmas. It was very moving.

To cap it off, the BB King All Star Blues Band were just great in the Queens Lounge.

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and would definitely cruise again on this ship, or any of the other HAL group.

Here are a couple of pics from our Meet and Greet

Private area in the Crows Nest

Refreshments

Captain Frank van der Hoeven, to your right, looking at the camera, wearing glasses

[summersigh]

Sounded like a great time.

Maybe I missed it ... but what ship was it? Did you have any port stops?

[Lizzie68]

Great review and photos. And how nice that the captain and officers came to your M&G. I'm glad your first HAL cruise was such a positive experience.:)

[SilvertoGold]

Good review and nice photos.

 

I like it that the ship put on a gracious Roll Call meeting. With Jason Hale as HD, I am not surprised -- he is excellent!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your nice review and glad you had a good cruise, but I'd also like to know what ship? Westerdam I'm guessing. Nice photo's.

I agree with SilvertoGold about your HD Jason Hale, good guy.

[Vict0riann]

Glad you had such a happy cruise. I would guess you were on the Nieuw Amsterdam? I don't think any of the smaller ships have obstructed-view staterooms by the lifeboats with floor-to-ceiling windows.

[Howiehal]

Sounded like a great time.

Maybe I missed it ... but what ship was it? Did you have any port stops?

 

Sorry about that. It was of course the Westerdam. I thought I had put this post on just the Westerdam page. I can't seem to be able to edit the original post.

Ports of call were Half Moon Cay private island

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Georgetown, Grand Cayman

Key West

Edited December 31, 2014 by Howiehal

[Mtn2Sea]

Thanks for the report. Sounds like you had a great first cruise with HAL. Several years ago we booked a cruise on a Wednesday that was leaving the following Saturday. Turned out to be one of our best cruises.

[Howiehal]

Glad you had such a happy cruise. I would guess you were on the Nieuw Amsterdam? I don't think any of the smaller ships have obstructed-view staterooms by the lifeboats with floor-to-ceiling windows.

 

It was for sure the Westerdam. I thought I had taken a pic out through the window, but no. Here are some pics of the cabin though. The floor to ceiling window is behind the full length window drape. It was on deck 4, the Upper Promenade.

[doublebzz]

Thanks for the upbeat review. We are boarding Westerdam in about 66 hours - makes us more anxious now.

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review and post pictures.

 

Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

 

In the picture with the captain, was that Mark Pells - Hotel Director?

[PathfinderEss]

Howiehal thanks for coming back and tell us it was the Westerdam. The only reason I thought it was because I was just on it and the carpeting around the bar in the Crows Nest look familar.

Did you think about sending your cabin pics/HAL info to pictures@halfacts.com

[SilvertoGold]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review and post pictures.

 

Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

 

In the picture with the captain, was that Mark Pells - Hotel Director?

 

KK

 

HD Jason Hale.

[summersigh]

Sorry about that. It was of course the Westerdam. I thought I had put this post on just the Westerdam page. I can't seem to be able to edit the original post.

Ports of call were Half Moon Cay private island

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Georgetown, Grand Cayman

Key West

 

We LOVE the Westerdam. I can only imagine what a good time you had. Welcome to the world of Cruising Addicts LOL

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for posting your review and pictures.

Glad you had a good cruise.

[rbyrd2531]

review...now we REALLY miss the Westerdam :>)

[doublebzz]

Just finished packing my last bottle of wine, off to the ATM, then the 1/2 hour drive up to Port Everglades to board the Westerdam.

[erewhon]

Just finished packing my last bottle of wine, off to the ATM, then the 1/2 hour drive up to Port Everglades to board the Westerdam.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

[erewhon]

Howiehal,

 

Thank you for reviewing your Westerdam Christmas Cruise.

[madera1]

Sounds like a great trip. Thank you for the review.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[kazu]

Thanks so much for the review. Really appreciate it and the pics.

 

Sounds like you had a good time.

[thetexasaggiecruiser]

We were there with you - it was a great week, wasn't it. Kudos for you getting your trip report up! Mine is still in my head, but reading yours, I might just go ahead and post it later today.

[doublebzz]

Thanks for the upbeat review. We are boarding Westerdam in about 66 hours - makes us more anxious now.

 

Just disembarked and can confirm poster's upbeat comments about Westerdam. I give a big thumbs up to the quality of the food, both in the MDR and Pinnacle Grill. The filet and lobster tail on the 2nd formal night were perfectly cooked and delicious. In the Pinnacle, the filet on one night and lamb chops on the 2nd night were superb. Embarkation and debarkation were among the smoothest I've encountered at Port Everglades which has had its share of problems lately. Although the ship was fully booked, there was no sense of overcrowding. For a 10 year old ship, Westerdam is in great shape with a great crew.

[Howiehal]

We were there with you - it was a great week, wasn't it. Kudos for you getting your trip report up! Mine is still in my head, but reading yours, I might just go ahead and post it later today.

 

Hi,

I remember meeting you two at the Meet and Greet. Have you heard from Jo? I wanted to thank her but do not have her e mail address. I wonder if she has seen this thread?

Regards,

Howard