Noordam Aust/NZ brief comments

[pv girl]

Just off the Noordam - my first time on this ship - and loved her. I did not like other Vista ships Oosterdam and Zuiderdam due to harsh decor and a few other things, but this ship was almost perfect. Everything clean, subdued decor, wonderful art, and super staff. Capt. Peter "wash your hands" Bos was very funny and informative about adjustments in port times due to tides, weather, etc. CD Kieron Buffery was brief in announcements, piano bar was Michael Sara. Casino busy and smoking only allowed on 2 nights. Letter in cabin referred smokers to Oak Room and back outside bar - did not hear folks with balconies complaining.

 

Trying to cover some of recent threads - no sandwich maker - only premade. Lots of people using Dive-In but I did not - it seemed popular. New salad bar concept in use and it was great - you can get what you want, in amount you want if you are firm and no germs. Almost all of Lido was served to you. Drinks served at tables and they were cleared promptly - easy to find a seat even when busy. Asian stir fry was my "go to" for lunch. Tasty and varied each day. Need longer lunch hours - people coming back from port and tours were rushed by 2pm closing. But they won't go hungry - they complained but forgot there is Dive-In, pizza station, room service, and tea at 3pm.

 

Staff were great - all over- and remembered my name. Treated me wonderful and very helpful on tender and steep gangways in port. Room stewards kept my room in order and the room showed no wear and bathroom looked brand new. No plumbing or A/C issues on my part and didn't hear of any complaints except the public areas kept too cool - always needed a sweater or wrap - especially Crows Nest and MDR. Adagio very good group. Room service for breakfast was always on time and order complete - even my write-in of sticky buns and raisin buns.

 

Great cruise - loved NZ - the scenery, the people, and the little towns. More later - I am tired and jet-lagged. Season down under almost over but highly recommend this ship for next year or for Alaska this summer. Lot of staff on first contract and really looking forward to their time in Alaska so know they will make everyone feel welcome. Ship is a little bigger than I like, but it was in such great shape and the staff so great, that I adapted quite well and the longer walks helped burn off all the good food. Also most ports were commercial ones, so involved shuttle bus and some walking. About 3 ports charged $10NZ return for shuttle but the rest were free by very helpful local volunteers.

[Tbay]

Thanks for your comments. Good to know the ship is in good shape. We board March 25 for 45 days. Sydney-NZ-Sydney-Vancouver-Alaska. Would love to read your review of ports and excursions.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for your review/report.

 

Keith

[Stratheden]

Thanks for the positive comments. So looking forward to our cruise on 25th March. Getting really excited. :)

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your report, we enjoy the Noordam as well.

[roberts2005]

Good to hear about Australia and Noordam. My roll call for November has only one person.

[pv girl]

For those of you on the last few down under trips - pax mix was great. Lots of Aussies and Kiwis and they were very happy to share insights of their homes with us. Capt. said 29 nationalities on board. Met lots of fellow US, Canadians, Brits, and large contingent of Chinese groups.

 

Highlight of trip was the overland excursion from Milford Sound to Dunedin. I really debated about this ahead of time due to the cost, but friends urged me to do it, to see inland NZ as probably my first and only trip to down under. I am so glad I did it. We crossed the entire south island with an overnight in Queenstown. HAL did everything with class. It was a long two days on bus, but so worth it. We got instructions on procedures etc. on board - there were 41 of us - a good size and good group of folks - no one lagged, so we kept a good schedule. Our driver was great - gave us lots of info on history of the little towns we visited, the area, the economy, the politics, etc. and answered all questions. Felt like he was a friend, not just a driver.

 

The trip began when a tender picked us up in Milford Sound. it was drizzly and foggy but awesome. Dolphins were around the ship and tender. The weather improved as soon as we got inland and those on the ship said they had a whole day of that awful whether and didn't see too much in their day of scenic cruising of the fiords, so we didn't miss much. The hotel in Queenstown was 5 star St. Moritz, with views over the awesome lake. Very classy and welcoming and great breakfast in the morning. Went across the lake on steamer to a sheep farm for dinner - lots of fun. Next morning went up on ski gondola for a lookout over lake and town. Both days the lunch was at local place and good. Everything was included and so value for $$ was there when all added up. Got back to ship at 5pm in Dunedin and felt great to be "home" and welcomed back. We all took an overnight bag and dressed in layers - it was warm the last day and hot in Dunedin. We saw so much - lots of sheep, of course, bungee jumpers at the original bridge, old gold mines, cute towns, awesome vistas in the mountains, river gorges. I could go on and on - I can only say - do this tour. It was the only HAL tour I took. The rest of the ports, I hooked up with local vendors on the piers or just wandered around on my own.

 

Most ports had local volunteers on the pier to offer direction and suggestions. The people were so welcoming and friendly. Sydney was a great city - very clean and easy to get around on the train. Suggest booking a hotel close to a train station even if cost is a little more - so worth it. I stayed at Menzies. Got a shuttle from airport that dropped off at various hotels for $17AUD and also same shuttle company to port from hotel for $15AUD (beats $50-75AUD taxi any day). White Bay is impossible to get to by public transit. Nice terminal and well organized, but long lines. However they had priority lines for suites, 4 and 5 star, etc. and let this 3 star go there too, so not bad.

 

We had late sailing from Sydney - 4pm led to 300am next day due to maintenance on propeller - so we missed the great sailout views, but saw fireworks at 9pm over the bridge. Not a big deal as I had seen bridge and opera house in person the day before. Suggest booking a tour of opera house online ahead of time - good tour. Some folks had attended opera the night before - booked online - and were glad they did it.

 

More later.

[Lizzie68]

Thanks for a a very positive report. Too bad about the sandwiches in the Lido, looks like all ships are going the way of pre-mades. It has been suggested the smoking policy on the Noordam is because of Australia's smoking rules - which is good for the Alaska season from Vancouver, as we have the same rules.:D I may be able to enjoy my balcony.

 

Edited to add.... we first met Kieron Buffery, the CD, when he was CD on a RCI ship. He is excellent, IMO.

Edited March 13, 2016 by Lizzie68

[pv girl]

The "On Location" guy Lance gave good talks about the ports and wasn't pushing HAL tours - gave info where to find the local vendors at each port and how to get to town by public transport when available. Gave info on the shuttles from the commercial ports - we always seemed to dock by piles and piles of fresh cut timber waiting for export to China and Japan.

 

Sail in and out from Picton and Napier especially scenic - do not miss this. Crows Nest was popular then. Nice to have the Crows Nest without the coffee bar and library crowding and noise. I believe Noordam is unique in this. It was pretty windy on this cruise, so no one used the bow much, though they did open it at times.

 

Nice gym - didn't use it enough - weighed in this am and up 5lb. It was the roll basket at dinner, dessert at lunch (never do that at home), and ice cream in afternoon. And they sent a plate of chocolates to the room - of course, I had to try each kind. Portions at dinner were small but plenty of food as you have several courses. Only really bad meal - believe it or not - was lamb chops - very fatty and no flavor. Filet mignon dry and tasteless. Everyday menu salmon and chicken were both juicy and flavorful. Asked for steamed veggies instead of usual accompaniments and very good. I had salt free diet and 3 other tablemates were vegetarian, so we were challenge for the waiter but he was up to it. Each night when we sat down he would bring next night menu "to do our homework" while we waited for first course. HAL does a good job on special diets. Noticed lots of stuff in Lido labeled gluten-free.

 

My advice to those flying in - allow at least 2 days ahead before boarding day - you will sleep a lot of the first day due to the very long flight and time change. My hotel room was ready at 11am when I checked in and I freshened up and went out for a while, then back for a "nap". I slept right through dinner until next morning. Glad I had the next day for touring before boarding day. Of course, if we had known about the late sailing, we could have delayed boarding - once on the ship, they would not let us off due to immigration rules. Same on return - allow an extra day before back to work. I got home yesterday afternoon, and no way could I go to work today. Napping is in order. Seemed harder trip than Europe.

 

Cutbacks - skimpy flowers on dinner tables and less of the elaborate displays in public areas. No big deal if this keeps fares down. No dessert extravaganza night. They still had late night buffet each night. Still had room service breakfast last day. Surprising that lots of folks did not realize room service was free. Lots of folks from OZ/NZ/Brits removing tips on last day and then saying they would just tip room stewards and waiters in cash. And lots complained about the 15% added to bar tab - not in their culture. And they got stung on the exchange rate to USD used on the ship.

Edited March 13, 2016 by pv girl
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[SilvertoGold]

Interesting review! Thanks for sharing your cruise.

Lucky you to have Captain Bos!

[Pretending]

Thanks for your review. We will be on this ship shortly and I was wondering if there is a coffee card available to purchase that gives some sort of discount if you were buying coffee every day ?

[erewhon]

Thank you for your review.

 

We were on Noordam for the first Sydney to Auckland cruise this summer season. Were able to have sandwiches made to order.

 

Pleased that you enjoyed the overland journey to Dunedin.

 

We attended a cruise evening at our local travel agents where the NZ HAL rep told those present to remove the daily Hotel Service charge when on board the ship. (We always leave the HSC in place).

 

You were very fortunate to sail with Captain Bos.

Edited March 14, 2016 by erewhon

[sail7seas]

Wonderful review. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

Noordam is a very special ship. Whatever they may have done wrong on the other three Vista ships, they got just right on Noordam. :)

 

Welcome Back.

[AECrowell]

PV Girl,

I was hoping someone would post about the previous trips before we board the Noordam March 25th. You mentioned many areas I have been wondering about and I really appreciate your positive remarks! Glad you had such a great time. We can't wait to board for our turn. Thank you so much for taking the time to write your review!

[teamflames]

We did nz overland last year but did the interisland ferry and agree that sail out of Picton is amazing, better than Milford sound imo.

I am an Aussie and sad to hear the cutting of tips, I have been on one cruise in the med and fellow Aussies did the same citing their belief that the money doesn't really get to the crew, so sad as I have met loads of people who have worked on cruise ships (many from Central America) who told me they got no salary at all only received the tips.

Having said that Australians have been forced to pay much higher rates to cruise compared to North Americans and that is not taking the cost to fly to most cruise destinations into account, so I know some of this backlash is related to that pricing. Many internet ta's ban you from booking if you are Australian (there are threads on TripAdvisor about this).

Now you know what true jet lag is haha. I have had many American friends complain to me over the years about jet lag just flying across the Atlantic and I tell them wait until you are adjusting to 10+ hour time difference and a 24 hour travelling schedule, my last one I slept for almost 18 hours straight! My parents have stopped travelling overseas anymore as just too far and too much jet lag.

Glad you had a great trip

 

 

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

[Stratheden]

Lots of folks from OZ/NZ/Brits removing tips on last day and then saying they would just tip room stewards and waiters in cash. And lots complained about the 15% added to bar tab - not in their culture. And they got stung on the exchange rate to USD used on the ship.

 

Unless you are a member of CC you would not understand the reason for the HSC.

 

Australian wages for hospitality staff are much higher than the US and Canada. We all assume that employees are paid a decent wage to do their job well and therefore only tip for exceptional service.

 

We also prefer all inclusive holidays. We don't have Resort Fees either. We are not used to tipping, therefore have no idea who to tip. Our first HAL cruise was all inclusive, after that we joined CC and have always left the HSC in place and tipped our room stewards and waiters extra.

 

New cruisers will have no idea.

[AECrowell]

PVGirl, did they offer cooking classes and demos on your cruise?

[lukydog]

Thanks for your report on the Noordam. Will be sailing on the Noordam in June....our first trip to Alaska and our first time sailing with Holland. Glad to hear that some food is labeled gluten free in Lido. We usually have to wing it and make an educated guess which foods are GF on the buffet...will be nice to have some marked.

[cruising_Bif]

Glad to hear the ship is in "great shape." Other posters have suggested she is worn and tired.