New to Westerdam

[snowgoose]

After having been on four cruises on Radison ships, I have booked on the March 26th Western Caribean cruise on the Westerdam. What differences will I see, concerning the two lines other then the price difference?

[kryos]

After having been on four cruises on Radison ships, I have booked on the March 26th Western Caribean cruise on the Westerdam. What differences will I see, concerning the two lines other then the price difference?

You'll have a lot more passengers to share the ship with on a Vista-class vessel such as the Westerdam. The pool area will be much more crowded ... especially on nice weather sea days ... and you may sometimes have trouble getting bar service ... especially if the pool area is packed and the servers are busy. Thus, on some occasions, you may have to go up to the bar and get drinks yourself. I think Radisson has those little flags on the pool chairs ... where you raise them and a bar person comes right over to take your order? You won't find that on HAL.

 

Because you're traveling with more people, you'll probably also encounter the "chair hogs" ... people who stake out their pool lounger early in the morning with a towel and then leave it for hours at a time. In that case, though, just scope out the chair for half an hour. If no one comes to use it, see a deck person and have him remove their towels and belongings ... and then just plop yourself right down. It's yours now.

 

You'll have to sign for your bottles of wine at dinner ... as well as all liquor aboard the ship.

 

You'll also pay for bottled water and sodas ... but you can get an unlimited soft drink card for the cruise if you drink a lot of sodas.

 

You'll probably see more children on a HAL cruise because it is not quite as expensive to bring them along as it would be on Radisson. Since your cruise might take place during Easter break, you could see a lot more children.

 

You may have more lines for things ... like at Breakfast at the Lido ... than you perhaps have experienced with Radisson, but it won't be overly bad.

 

You'll have one main dining room, with a dress code each night and set seating times and table assignments. Lunch and breakfast are open seating with no dress code other than a prohibition on shorts. I believe Radisson is open seating even for dinner ... country club casual every night? If you want to dress down on a HAL formal night, you'll have to head up to the Lido for dinner. It will be "cafeteria style," but the tables all have nice tablecloths and china on them. It's really a pretty nice set-up for an informal meal.

 

You'll have one specialty restaurant on HAL ships ... the Pinnacle Grill. You'll need reservations, though I've never found them difficult to get. Same evening dress code applies there, and there will be a $20 per person service charge. But, believe me ... it's well worth every penny. The food is out of this world ... steaks, prime rib, baked potatoes the size of small footballs. You get the idea. I think Radisson's specialty restaurant is free ... you just need to make reservations?

 

It will take longer to clear the ship at tender ports simply because there are more people aboard that have to be gotten off. Also, HAL's excursions will get priority tendering, as well as suite passengers ... so if you're in a suite, this won't affect you.

 

Other than those things, I think you'll find HAL to be a wonderful, somewhat elegant line ... though certainly not in the class of a Radisson ... but then, you won't pay the price you'll pay on Radisson either.

 

You'll find beautiful art work in the hallways of HAL ships and lots of lovely flowers. You'll find service personnel that are generally anxious to please and you'll get a cruise that won't break the bank.

 

Have fun!

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita