Live From The Last Frontier: 6/18-25 Westerdam R/T From Seattle

[ACorgan]

Our first dinner went well. We were seated at a 6-top right next to the window at the back of the ship. No one else showed up, so had the table to ourselves tonight

We had the French onion soup and the salmon chowder and both really enjoyed our soups 

The club orange main was Peruvian chicken. I wasn’t so sure about it from the menu description, but had heard great things here on cruise critic, so gave it a whirl. It definitely lived up to the hype. Very tender chicken that reminded me of something smoked on a Traeger grill, corn that tasted like it had just been cut off a BBQ corn on the cob, and a tasty cilantro-forward sauce. My only critique is that it was a huge portion, so I felt bad that I could only make it about halfway through. If this had been a land-based restaurant, I would have 100% taken the rest to go; I’m sure that chicken would have made a killer chicken salad

Last, but not least, the deserts didn’t disappoint. I went with the fruit plate, since wanted something lighter after all the food today and my traveling companion went with the chocolate brownie cheesecake. The fruit didn’t look amazing when I first got it, but it was all very flavorful, especially the pineapple, which was very sweet

Looking around the dining room, there were quite a few empty seats, which surprised me on a sold out cruise. Not sure if there are just less people in the late fixed dinning or if it just happened to be an evening where people chose to go to specialty restaurants, lido, or room service? We’ll see how it looks tomorrow 

[ACorgan]

After dinner, I spent some time in the casino. I hadn’t realized that the Westerdam casino was smoke-free, so that was a pleasant change from my last HAL trip, on the Zaandam.
 

The night life around me seemed to be going strong when I tapped out (around 10 pm) with dueling pianos in Billboard and a live band playing away in the Rolling Stone Lounge. From the looks of things, there’s a fun crowd on board that will probably keep the party going for awhile, but my early morning is catching up to me, so I’m off to wind down with some light reading before bed 🥱

[erdufylla]

On 6/14/2023 at 8:28 PM, ACorgan said:

I kept holding out for Victoria, hoping that they might add a Butchart Gardens excursion, but if it hasn’t happened by 3 days before the cruise, think it’s not in the cards. We’re in port from  8pm to 11:30pm, so could maybe chance taking a taxi out there, since the gardens are open until 10, but not sure if I’m brave enough to try that.

I’m so sad for you that that’s not one of the excursion options. We took that excursion on the Alaska cruise I did in 2019, and the park had closed to the public by the time we got there, and our tour bus of like 8 people were the only guests in the whole gardens the entire time. It was the most magical experience.
 

It was definitely a bit of a hike from the port, though, so I’m not sure I would be brave enough to try a taxi there on my own. 

[ACorgan]

4 minutes ago, erdufylla said:

I’m so sad for you that that’s not one of the excursion options. We took that excursion on the Alaska cruise I did in 2019, and the park had closed to the public by the time we got there, and our tour bus of like 8 people were the only guests in the whole gardens the entire time. It was the most magical experience.
 

It was definitely a bit of a hike from the port, though, so I’m not sure I would be brave enough to try a taxi there on my own. 

There was actually good news on that front. Yesterday it suddenly showed up as an excursion option and we were able to book it as soon as we were on the ship today, so will get to go the gardens after all 🙌

[erdufylla]

Oh yay!! I’m so glad you get to go! It was one of the best and most memorable excursions I’ve been on. You’ll have such a good time! 

[TwinMommyByGrace]

1 hour ago, ACorgan said:

After dinner, I spent some time in the casino. I hadn’t realized that the Westerdam casino was smoke-free, so that was a pleasant change from my last HAL trip, on the Zaandam.
 

The night life around me seemed to be going strong when I tapped out (around 10 pm) with dueling pianos in Billboard and a live band playing away in the Rolling Stone Lounge. From the looks of things, there’s a fun crowd on board that will probably keep the party going for awhile, but my early morning is catching up to me, so I’m off to wind down with some light reading before bed 🥱

Did you happen to play any table games? Particularly interested with the blackjack table minimums? Trying to figure out how much to budget for the casino. TIA for any info. Happy to hear the food was good. Hope you rest well. 

[ACorgan]

8 hours ago, TwinMommyByGrace said:

Did you happen to play any table games? Particularly interested with the blackjack table minimums? Trying to figure out how much to budget for the casino. TIA for any info. Happy to hear the food was good. Hope you rest well. 

I didn’t play any table games, since I’m strictly a slot player, but know there were several boisterous groups around tables playing something last night. I’ll definitely be back through the casino today, so will try to peek what the blackjack minimums are are report back 

[ACorgan]

First breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill today. We arrived right at the start of breakfast (8 am) and had a lovely table by the window. After placing our orders, we saw a group of something briefly swimming next to the ship. They were spouting, but didn’t look like large enough spray for whales. Maybe some kind of porpoise? Beautiful, sunny weather so far

For our meal, our table tried the smoked salmon omelette, the bagel and lox, and the ham and cheese skillet. I’m being told the skillet was “a little watery due to the pico, but still tasty” We didn’t try any of the scrumptious-looking pastries they kept bringing around, but that was sheer willpower and the desire to not to gain a huge amount of weight this cruise, because they looked really good 🤤

I’m going to let breakfast settle and then might check out the gym, mostly to justify the fact that I felt compelled to pack 2 sets of gym clothes rather than any burning desire to work out 😂 I’ll probably be the one going a turtle’s pase on an elliptical (assuming I can find a free one). Hopefully it will at least have nice views. I’m also hoping that pre-posting about going to the gym will make me follow through with that instead of climbing back into bed for a mid morning nap, which sounds like a very good plan B 😉

[AV8rix]

10 hours ago, TwinMommyByGrace said:

Did you happen to play any table games? Particularly interested with the blackjack table minimums? Trying to figure out how much to budget for the casino. TIA for any info. Happy to hear the food was good. Hope you rest well. 

Not the OP but a "pro" tournament player on land, so blackjack is all I do on the ships.  There is always a $6 min table but only pays 6/5 for blackjack and is populated mostly by beginners.  There is always also a 3/2 table, minimum on that one varies by ship.  Have seen it anywhere from $15 to $25.  And sometimes, again depending upon individual ship's host, it will be $15 during the daytime on sea days, then $25 at night.  While the beginners table is ALWAYS open during casino hours, you sometimes have to ask the host to open the 3/2 table.  They will or will not, depending upon staffing availability.  Hope this helps. 

[ACorgan]

Made it to the gym. It’s actually quite beautiful with many machines right at the window looking straight ahead as we sail forward.

I must have timed it well because there were plenty of machines to choose from. There was some kind of stretching class going on when I arrived that seemed very popular. They had run out of room in the small group activities area and I saw people interspersed between the weight machines following along with the stretches.
 

The greenhouse spa also appeared to be bustling and had a long line of people trying to book treatments (not surprising for a sea day). Most cruises, I do at least one spa treatment, but might skip it this time around since such busy port days planned and (hopefully) beautiful scenery while the ship is in motion.

 

I had forgotten how challenging an elliptical machine can be with the ship motion, especially for someone as non-coordinated as I am 🥴 It was a very light workout, but I made it the whole way through without falling off my machine, so we’re going to call that one a win 🏆 

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, ACorgan said:

Made it to the gym. It’s actually quite beautiful with many machines right at the window looking straight ahead as we sail forward.

I must have timed it well because there were plenty of machines to choose from. There was some kind of stretching class going on when I arrived that seemed very popular. They had run out of room in the small group activities area and I saw people interspersed between the weight machines following along with the stretches.
 

The greenhouse spa also appeared to be bustling and had a long line of people trying to book treatments (not surprising for a sea day). Most cruises, I do at least one spa treatment, but might skip it this time around since such busy port days planned and (hopefully) beautiful scenery while the ship is in motion.

 

I had forgotten how challenging an elliptical machine can be with the ship motion, especially for someone as non-coordinated as I am 🥴 It was a very light workout, but I made it the whole way through without falling off my machine, so we’re going to call that one a win 🏆 

I always feel it's way more challenging, to work out on a ship.  Glad it's not just me.

[ACorgan]

3 hours ago, AV8rix said:

Not the OP but a "pro" tournament player on land, so blackjack is all I do on the ships.  There is always a $6 min table but only pays 6/5 for blackjack and is populated mostly by beginners.  There is always also a 3/2 table, minimum on that one varies by ship.  Have seen it anywhere from $15 to $25.  And sometimes, again depending upon individual ship's host, it will be $15 during the daytime on sea days, then $25 at night.  While the beginners table is ALWAYS open during casino hours, you sometimes have to ask the host to open the 3/2 table.  They will or will not, depending upon staffing availability.  Hope this helps. 

Just confirming that most the tables I saw as I walked by were $6 min (no one seems to be playing at the moment and the dealers looked bored) 

 

I had planned to go to the team trivia at the Billboard, but it was packed by the time I got there (5 min before start) and no seats to be found, so wandered over to the casino instead 

[TwinMommyByGrace]

1 hour ago, ACorgan said:

Just confirming that most the tables I saw as I walked by were $6 min (no one seems to be playing at the moment and the dealers looked bored) 

 

I had planned to go to the team trivia at the Billboard, but it was packed by the time I got there (5 min before start) and no seats to be found, so wandered over to the casino instead 

Thanks for checking! Helps me to decide i hi ow much to money to take for the casino. 
Great live reports so far! Thanks for taking us along with you. Are you doing any speciality restaurants this week or planning all mdr dinners? (Wish Westerdam had Rudi’s or at least a pop up). 

[ACorgan]

1 minute ago, TwinMommyByGrace said:

Are you doing any speciality restaurants this week or planning all mdr dinners? (Wish Westerdam had Rudi’s or at least a pop up). 

We have Pinnacle booked for our last night (Victoria), but not planning on anything else. I hadn’t anticipated our dinner time being so early though, so need to check in about tomorrow night. We get back from our excursion at 8pm, so not sure if will be ok to come a half hour late to our 7:30 MDR fixed seating, or if we need to figure something else out. Planning to ask our MDR servers about it tonight. If the MDR is a no-go, might see if we can get late Canaletto reservations 

[Florida_gal_50]

I had mentioned a while back that the fixed dining time had changed to earlier times and I was told I was wrong because this person asked hal 😛.  So much for that.

[coreywky]

I will be on this ship in two weeks. How is the WIFI on Westerdam? Does it have starlink installed? Thank you

[jackinelgin]

48 minutes ago, ACorgan said:

We have Pinnacle booked for our last night (Victoria), but not planning on anything else. I hadn’t anticipated our dinner time being so early though, so need to check in about tomorrow night. We get back from our excursion at 8pm, so not sure if will be ok to come a half hour late to our 7:30 MDR fixed seating, or if we need to figure something else out. Planning to ask our MDR servers about it tonight. If the MDR is a no-go, might see if we can get late Canaletto reservations 

We booked Pinnacle for our anniversary,6/30. Looking forward to it.

[ACorgan]

32 minutes ago, coreywky said:

I will be on this ship in two weeks. How is the WIFI on Westerdam? Does it have starlink installed? Thank you

I have no idea how to tell if it’s starlink or not, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the internet so far. I upgraded to the highest package and while I wouldn’t try it for streaming services or zoom calls, it’s doing far better than my sailing last August on the Zaandam (also best package available). Texting pictures to people takes awhile, but the images do eventually go through 

[ACorgan]

I jinxed myself with the praise of the internet. It’s being very slow this evening. Tonight was the first dressy night, gala evening, or whatever they call it now. In the MDR, I didn’t notice any tuxes, but many men in suits and ties and some just in nice button up collared shirt (no tie). Women’s wear much harder to classify, but sufficient to say people were dressed fairly nicely, especially for a cruise to Alaska.

 

For our starters, went with the duck option and the crab and artichoke dip

The club orange special tonight was the short rib. I was torn since I’ve had that on a previous cruise and really enjoyed it. I wanted something lighter though, so decided to go with the fish. Joke was on me since the fish came with some sort of heavier cream sauce. It was delicious, so no regrets. My table mate did get the short rib and reported that it was still incredibly tasty

Dessert at our table was fruit and cheesecake. The cantaloupe was a little mushy, but the rest of the fruit was delightful 

I’m probably going to “invest” a little more at the casino tonight and then will shoot for an early evening again. I’m taking daily meclizine to prevent motion sickness and it makes me very drowsy, so more naps and earlier to bed than I would be at home

[SusieKIslandGirl]

I manage to lose weight on every cruise by using the stairs, at least a few flights. Still haven't mastered Deck 3 to Deck 9 yet, though.

[ACorgan]

37 minutes ago, SusieKIslandGirl said:

I manage to lose weight on every cruise by using the stairs, at least a few flights. Still haven't mastered Deck 3 to Deck 9 yet, though.

I started out with the lofty goal of never taking the elevators at all this cruise, but that only lasted until our first dinner yesterday 😞 My phone says I climbed 17 flights of stairs before I gave up, so that’s not too shabby. Still mostly using stairs during the day, but if going from 2 up to the lido or crows nest, I snag an elevator instead 

[jackinelgin]

5 hours ago, ACorgan said:

I started out with the lofty goal of never taking the elevators at all this cruise, but that only lasted until our first dinner yesterday 😞 My phone says I climbed 17 flights of stairs before I gave up, so that’s not too shabby. Still mostly using stairs during the day, but if going from 2 up to the lido or crows nest, I snag an elevator instead 

Our cabin is on Deck 8. As much as I'd like to I think we'll use elevators a lot. We're both 70 and in decent shape but that's a lot of stairs.🫤

[Haljo1935]

3 hours ago, jackinelgin said:

Our cabin is on Deck 8. As much as I'd like to I think we'll use elevators a lot. We're both 70 and in decent shape but that's a lot of stairs.🫤

We're not 70 and that's a lot of stairs!!

[ACorgan]

Today is Juneau day 🐋 The clocks were set back an hour last night and to my surprise, my cell phone (which is in airplane mode, but connected to ship wifi) changed time as well. I was bemoaning the fact I was so wide awake at 6:30, but then checked my watch and realized it was 7:30 PST, so that’s respectable. Since we were up and going, we arrived at the Pinnacle at 7:30 on the dot for breakfast and snagged another window table. I tried the pan Asian breakfast this morning.

The rice was a tad mushy at the bottom of the heap and I just couldn’t bring myself to eat cauliflower and carrots that early in the morning, but the rest was really good. The tamagoyaki (egg roll) was tender and had just a touch of sweetness to it, the salmon was well cooked, the miso soup tasted as it should, and the dipping sauce worked well on the white rice

 

To catch up from last night, when we returned to our room after dinner, we had a cute towel animal and some chocolates

We’re just starting to go through Stephen’s passage now. As we were walking back from breakfast, I noticed the scenery on the right side of the ship (can’t ever remember which one is Port and which one is Starboard) was stunning with snow capped mountains in the distance. However, our balcony faces the other way, towards Admiralty Island and I’m too lazy at the moment to wander, so here’s our current view, which is still very pretty, if lacking the large peaks: 

Haven’t noticed any whales yet, but will keep an eye out. During breakfast there was an odd overhead announcement asking one of the ship staff servers (missed the name) to contact the bridge immediately. Hope everything is ok with them; it sounded ominous 

After breakfast settles, have to decide if I’m going to hit the gym again or decide it’s ok to skip, since planning to do a (short) hike later today 😉

[SusieKIslandGirl]

I remember port and left have the same amount of letters. Starboard and right are longer words. For the colors associated with the sides, the same applies. Red for port and green for starboard.