39 days on the Noordam

[ehogan]

For some reason I can't get this onto the review section so here goes

 

HAL CRUISE TO NEW ZEALAND

 

Generally speaking our 39 day cruise from Vancouver to New Zealand went very well. HAL did an excellent job of keeping us entertained throughout several extended at sea days. The cruise did the west coast of the U.S to San Diego then five sea days to Hawaii, five sea days to Samoa, then Fiji, Tadine, Australia and finally New Zealand.

 

For me the highlight of this cruise was New Zealand...this is a stunningly beautiful country and wonderful people to match. We had eight ports in New Zealand and wished for more time in every one of them; of all the places we visited on this cruise, New Zealand is calling me for a return visit...maybe a leisurely road trip!

 

I will break the cruise experience down into categories for easier reading.

 

NOORDAM SHIP

 

Some have criticized the ship's condition, however I don't think this is valid. There are a few signs of wear in areas but they are not significant and we noted that some areas were even being upgraded while we were on board. The staff are constantly cleaning and the ship is spotless. One negative though is the air conditioning. This ship is freezing...normal wear is a jacket. The aft section of the Ocean Bar is arctic! Fortunately we were OK in the cabin.

 

I loved the fact the covered promenade goes right round the ship with no stairs or other blockages. We walked two miles every day.

 

The Vista Lounge is the main show Lounge; sight lines are blocked by a few poles and you will have to be there a half hour before the show to ensure a seat. Bring a jacket here too. The Noordam has a fantastic stage feature - some sort of high tech panels that are used as backdrops and replace stage scenery in a fantastic way. Can't really explain it properly but it is amazing. The production shows were OK, we have seen better and worse and the performers varied in talent.

 

Where this sailing excelled was in their daily afternoon presentations. These included talks on astronomy (not my thing, but these presentations were very popular). The history presentations were excellent and I attended every one of them. Special thanks to Barbara, the Location expert. Very good information on the ports.

 

We did not use the Spa facilities or nightclub so no comments on these areas. The gym is well equipped, machines were a bit difficult to figure out.

 

DINING AND FOOD SERVICE

 

We avoided the Lido after a few tries, it was just too crowded and frantic and there should have been more food servers at the buffet. The waiters in the Lido however, were excellent.

While there were good food choices, the quality of the hot foods was just average. There is not adequate seating available in the Lido unless you are prepared to use the outside decks.

 

The Vista dining room became our restaurant of choice. Excellent service, better food and no chaos. The Canaletto was very good and the Pinnacle Grill for lunch was excellent.

 

I was surprised that there was no early Continental breakfast available. Most other cruise lines offer this from 5 to 7 am for early risers. I saw many people in the Lido at that time who I am sure would have appreciated this.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

It is a real challenge for a ship to entertain its passengers for 39 days but Noordam excelled here! Other than production shows, there were no repeats and every performer was very good to excellent. Fortunately magicians and jugglers were kept to a minimum.

 

CABIN SERVICE

 

Dodit and To To our room stewards were stellar. Cabin was spotless at all times and any special requests were fulfilled immediately. Thanks so much!

 

SHORE EXCURSIONS

 

We felt shore excursions were overpriced so we only did three over 39 days. They were OK but didn't really give good value.

 

PORTS

 

We enjoyed all ports with the glaring exception of Fiji. The two cities of Suva and Lautoka were poor choices, and confirmed what many other reviewers have said about them.

 

MY ONE MAJOR COMPLAINT

 

Misinformation seems to be a very big problem on this ship. Several times announcements by the Cruise Director over the PA system had to be corrected.

 

Our biggest problem came with disembarkation. We were on a city tour plus airport drop off. We received two conflicting instruction letters re disembarkation. I went to the front desk and confirmed which one was correct. (A second letter was sent to all affected tour participants) I later went to the desk and asked again if we were to meet in the Vista Lounge and was told no, to disembark the ship. Well, apparently the Vista lounge is where we should have been.

 

On the day of disembarkation we waited in our room (door open) to hear our disembarkation colour called. After waiting 20 minutes past the estimated call time I called the front office and was told we had not yet been called. One minute later they called back and said our colour had already been called. I can tell you that announcement was not heard in our hallway! Consequently we were the last to arrive for our tour bus and lucky indeed to get on!

 

The Noordam really needs to get all their staff on board with the same, correct information before they pass on that info to passengers. They also need to ensure that announcements are audible in all hallways.

[erewhon]

Thank you for reviewing your Noordam experience.

 

We were on board from Sydney to Auckland.

 

Thank you for your kind comments regarding our little country, hope in the future that you are able to return for a leisurely road trip.

[utahtea]

ehogan, Thank you for your review.

 

We are booked for the 39-DAY SOUTH PACIFIC & AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND COLLECTOR Sept. 2016 out of San Diego.

 

Would you mind letting us know which excursions you did take and if you didn't do excursions, what did you do in the other ports? Any excursions you wished you had taken?

 

How was the weather? Any rough sea days? Did you have to skip any ports because of bad weather?

 

I happened to catch the Noordam docked in Auckland, NZ on the web cam the day you disembarked.

 

 

Utahtea

[Vict0riann]

Thanks for your review. We, too, loved New Zealand - arriving by sea, it is well worth a road trip!

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[ozcruizer]

Thanks for your review. We, too, loved New Zealand - arriving by sea, it is well worth a road trip!

 

We were on the same cruise, only from Honolulu to Sydney. I wrote a review which is probably a few pages back by now. We loved the Noordam (second cruise on her) and to be honest, I didn't notice signs of wear and tear. I did note the new carpets since our previous cruise in May 2014. However, there was no getting away from the freezing temperatures, especially in the passageway from the MDR to the showlounge. I did comment on this in the online survey and HAL is supposed to be getting back to me, but who knows :confused:.

 

Our room was great and our stewards were fantastic. No problems with the air con there.

 

The Lido is a continuing problem with seating but in sharing a table you often meet some lovely people. Food was okay but I did notice a couple of favourites missing from previous cruises. One thing: the good tea is back!

 

Would do another cruise on the Noordam any time.

 

Ozcruizer

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

It was excellent.

Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

thanks for the review...

[ehogan]

Dear uhtatea

 

Generally we had wonderful weather, one day of rain n NZ but about three rough sea days. One was between San Diego and Hawaii and a couple between AU and NZ. We have had worse rough weather though on other cruises.

 

The shore excursions we took were Pearl Harbour, Tasmania Bonorong Wildlife centre and Auckland museum and airport drop off. The Auckland tour was necessary to use up some time before a late flight...it was $150 per person!

We enjoyed the Bonorong sanctuary for the unusual animals but our tablemates said this was available through private excursions n Hobart. Pearl harbour I am sure could have been done easily on our own. In Napier we did a walking tour through the Art Deco centre. It was excellent and something like $15 per person. I booked on line. Our tablemates did many tours privately, some through Grayline and I believe the costs were about half of what HAL charged.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions, I will monitor this site for a week or so.

[utahtea]

ehogan,

 

Thanks for getting back to me and the information.

[Hlitner]

You did not say who did the lectures on Astronomy. But a couple of years ago we were on a HAL cruise that had an Astronomer named Alan Wright who became the star entertainer on the cruise. It was a long Transpacific Cruise and Dr Wright soon had standing room only for his lectures in the main theater...and also packed them in for his small get togethers (called Astro chats). If Alan was on your cruise you folks were very lucky.

 

Hank

[ehogan]

Yes, it was Alan And his lectures were very well attended. He also hosted a question period after his lectures.

[Beejay4016]

I can't believe you were so lucky as to have Alan Wright on your cruise. He is often on the ABC (that's Australian Broadcasting ...) breakfast news show and I just love watching and listening to him. His passion for his subject is enough to draw crowds, and he is just delightful. Fingers crossed that he is still on her on our March cruise out of Sydney:).

[Hlitner]

Yes, it was Alan And his lectures were very well attended. He also hosted a question period after his lectures.

 

Now we are jealous and sorry we missed that cruise. DW and I would love to cruise would love to again cruise with Alan and his lovely wife (Hilary). What an amazing and engaging man, who seems to thrive on being around other cruise passengers. And listening to Alan's lectures is guaranteed to expand anyone's knowledge of the origin of the universe, blackholes, and other related info. He is still the only cruise line lecturer we have ever witnessed get a long standing ovation (from a standing room only crowd) after his last lecture.

 

Hank

Edited November 18, 2015 by Hlitner

[wyobean]

We were also on this cruise for 39 days. Loved the cruise and the ship. We noticed wear on the Lido dining chairs.(no big deal to us) We enjoyed eating in the Lido. We normally ate breakfast at 7:00 and found no crowd till about 7:30. We also timed our dinner for 6ish. It was crowded a few times, but we met some nice people while sharing a table. We found that the food in the Lido closely followed what was being served in the MDR. So we would go get served about every 3rd day. As stated some parts of the ship were cold. We only took private tours. Example: DH walked across the bridge in Sydney for $210 US. The ship cost was $600....not sure if it was US or AUD. Either way a huge difference. We had a great time and also want to go back to New Zealand.

[Susie51]

I'm glad you made the bus on time. I hope HAL can get to the bottom of why there was so much miscommunication on this voyage.

[highcees]

Ehogan, thanks so much for a good, comprehensive review of this experience. We are following in your wake (from San Diego) in 2016, and are doing everything we possibly can to enhance our once-lifetime celebration. Having sailed on Noordam a couple of years ago (Caribbean market), we also found some "scuffs" here/there -- and she had just emerged from refurbishment -- and noted them in our feedback HAL requested. Perhaps they actually took something to heart! Thank you again, this first-hand information from seasoned sailors is invaluable.