28-day Westerdam Arctic Summer Solstice Live from the ship June 9-July 7

[scluvsrain]

23 minutes ago, DonnyD-JJ said:

I'm definitely not happy to hear about another Tender Port!!  Also No Shuttles in Kodiak, I hope town is within walking distance.  I hope tendering does not affect private excursions already booked.

 

 

The tender SHOULD drop us right at the boat harbor which is essentially across the street from downtown. It ought to be okay. 

[DonnyD-JJ]

1 minute ago, scluvsrain said:

The tender SHOULD drop us right at the boat harbor which is essentially across the street from downtown. It ought to be okay. 

That would be a really good thing.

[xLibLabLady]

4 hours ago, DonnyD-JJ said:

I'm definitely not happy to hear about another Tender Port!!  Also No Shuttles in Kodiak, I hope town is within walking distance.  I hope tendering does not affect private excursions already booked.

 

 

@DonnyD-JJ you and others will be pleased to know that no shuttles will be needed.  The tender pier is at Oscar's Dock,  which is basically in town.  For example, it is 3 short blocks to the Visitor's Center.  The museum other neat places are nearby. Specific directions:  To get to the visitor's center, walk toward Wells Fargo,  Make a right when you are by the bank.  You will now be facing rodent Processin Plant. Follow the road as it curves to the left. In another block you willl see the ?Discover Kodiak Visitor Center on your right

[xLibLabLady]

4 hours ago, scluvsrain said:

The tender SHOULD drop us right at the boat harbor which is essentially across the street from downtown. It ought to be okay. 

As @scluvsrain said, Yes,  we will be okay.   No shuttle bus needed. . 

[xLibLabLady]

  Regarding Nome:It was clear that a tremendous amount of thought, care and planning went into making our visit memorable!  All the local people we talked to, and that was quite a few, were so friendly and welcoming.

 

Nome's  radio station covered our visit. Here are 2 articles from their website the first one before our visit, the 2nd during and after our visit:

 

https://knom.org/2024/06/20/westerdam-first-visitors-expected-around-8-a-m/

 

https://knom.org/2024/06/22/a-warm-nome-welcome-first-cruise-ship-brings-excitement-commerce-and-culture/

 

Susan (xLibLabLady)

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Here is the layout as best I can tell

 

[DonnyD-JJ]

@xLibLabLady @The-Inside-Cabin  Thank you both for that information. I hope none of this deters cruisers from the 2025 cruise.  The inaugural cruise we all new would be interesting but no one knew in what way.  Well now you know what it is like blazing new trails, something different around each turn.

[scluvsrain]

The thing with tendering is that you need to build in more time to get off the ship, both on waiting for a tender to become available, the time on the tender to the dock and then the return trip so you get back to the ship on time. 
 

There are also people who cannot ride in a tender for physical or other limitations. So a planned port day is now unavailable. 
 

if you made plans for a port well in advance, suddenly learning on short notice that you will now need to tender to shore, that can put quite a crimp in your port plans. And leave a bit of a sour taste - yes, things happen out of everyone’s control and we are mostly old and mature enough as seasoned cruisers, to roll with the punches. However, how the ship handles the delivery of the news makes a world of difference in how we respond. 
 

When the ship had to turn back from moving forward to the arctic circle due to heavy ice, the captain came on and told us why and offered empathy and apologies and followed it up with a letter to us. No one got upset. The tendering changes, however, was not handled quite as, dare I say, “tenderly”.  

[The-Inside-Cabin]

56 minutes ago, scluvsrain said:

The thing with tendering is that you need to build in more time to get off the ship, both on waiting for a tender to become available, the time on the tender to the dock and then the return trip so you get back to the ship on time. 
 

There are also people who cannot ride in a tender for physical or other limitations. So a planned port day is now unavailable. 
 

if you made plans for a port well in advance, suddenly learning on short notice that you will now need to tender to shore, that can put quite a crimp in your port plans. And leave a bit of a sour taste - yes, things happen out of everyone’s control and we are mostly old and mature enough as seasoned cruisers, to roll with the punches. However, how the ship handles the delivery of the news makes a world of difference in how we respond. 
 

When the ship had to turn back from moving forward to the arctic circle due to heavy ice, the captain came on and told us why and offered empathy and apologies and followed it up with a letter to us. No one got upset. The tendering changes, however, was not handled quite as, dare I say, “tenderly”.  

If we docked at Pier 2 as originally planned - guests would have a 1-mile walk to the town center.  BUT guests could get off the ship without delay.  Call a taxi to pick them up at Pier 2. Your independent tour operator could meet you at Pier 2.

 

Tendering shortens the walk to the town center from 1 mile to 1/4 mile. But now you have to factor in a one-hour queue for a 20-minute tender ride—and then a 5-minute walk. If you scheduled an 8 a.m. private tour, thinking that's plenty of time to walk to town or meet your tour, you will now be lucky to get ashore by 8:30.

 

Mobilty people may not be able to get ashore at all - where from Pier 2 they could get ashore an drive their scooter to town over flat ground 

 

Maybe the Captain will have a better explanation at 2 PM during his Q and A.

Edited Monday at 04:39 PM by The-Inside-Cabin

[TableGirl]

1 hour ago, scluvsrain said:

And leave a bit of a sour taste

I couldn’t agree more.  I’m fully able bodied to get on and off a tender but one of my traveling party is not.  However it causes extra stress dealing with our local shore excursion operator.  
 

I think we should all write letters AND discuss it in our after cruise survey.

 

[Tennessee Titan]

We tendered in Kodiak on the Westerdam last month. No issues whatsoever....

Edited Monday at 05:08 PM by Tennessee Titan

[Susan Schneider]

We are doing this cruise in 2025 so excited to hear about the 2024 cruise. Also want to exchange ideas and thought share on excursions for 2025.  Hope to get to know everyone soon. 

[atexsix]

21 hours ago, RetiredMustang said:

No shore excursions today, but I thought I would share some photos.  We have been on Westerdam several times, but every now and then I notice something.  Such this cruise are elevator lobbies.  They are intricately designed and vary.  Here are some examples:

 

First, the 3rd deck forward:

 

 

 

Then 3rd deck midships:

 

 

 

And 3rd deck aft, near the MDR:

 

 

 

Elevator lobbies on the cabin decks I've seen have those squarish (and not very comfortable) bench sofas, like this one on 6th deck aft:

 

 

 

Although the one on 7th deck aft looks quite elegant, with the bas-relief:

 

 

 

And, the elevator doors on public decks are also intricately decorated:

 

 

 

Dave

Wow, it looks to me like the ship is fine for her age, with what others said I expected a nightmare.  I sailed on Westerdam ages ago when she was only about a year old, and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference now.  Perhaps she's unfairly being compared to the latest/greatest fresh out of the shipyard?  

[USN59-79]

10 hours ago, xLibLabLady said:

@DonnyD-JJ you and others will be pleased to know that no shuttles will be needed.  The tender pier is at Oscar's Dock,  which is basically in town.  For example, it is 3 short blocks to the Visitor's Center.  The museum other neat places are nearby. Specific directions:  To get to the visitor's center, walk toward Wells Fargo,  Make a right when you are by the bank.  You will now be facing rodent Processin Plant. Follow the road as it curves to the left. In another block you willl see the ?Discover Kodiak Visitor Center on your right

We have been to Alaska and seen many unusual things there, but didn't know they had a plant to process rodents.  

Ray

[The-Inside-Cabin]

36 minutes ago, Tennessee Titan said:

We tendered in Kodiak on the Westerdam last month. No issues whatsoever....

How long was the wait for tenders in May?  
 

How long was the tender ride?  

[Tennessee Titan]

Didnt really notice. Not remarkable...

[RetiredMustang]

2 hours ago, atexsix said:

Wow, it looks to me like the ship is fine for her age, with what others said I expected a nightmare.  I sailed on Westerdam ages ago when she was only about a year old, and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference now.  Perhaps she's unfairly being compared to the latest/greatest fresh out of the shipyard?  

 

I also think the ship looks fine.  But, while we have sailed on ships that are no longer in the fleet, the newest we have been on is Eurodam -- we have not sailed on the new Pinnacle class ships, so I can't compare Westerdam to those.

 

We first sailed on this Westerdam in 2007, and have been back several times.  Perhaps you can help my memory.  The first few times, I seem to remember that the atrium decoration was a delicate crystal or glass replica of the Half Moon, the old sailing ship that used to be part of the HAL logo (an in my opinion better than the current rather blah logo).  But, the last couple of times, the atrium art is a set of three rings:

 

 

 

Other than "hey look, three rings" I'm not sure what the art is supposed to say, if anything.  But, then, I don't "get" most modern art.  The atrium still has the glass-sided staircase to deck 2, and you can see a bit of the art studio on deck 1 that replaced, IIRC, the martini bar.

 

 

I also took other photos of the atrium area, the main part of which is the Ocean Bar, which is mostly of light wood veneers with accents of off-white and various blues:

 

 

 

There is a narrow set of seating along the starboard side near the bar:

 

 

 

 

But the wider port side and around the atrium has more seating:

 

 

 

In the alcove aft of the atrium are some fine carved-wood art pieces (that I actually understand what they are):

 

 

 

Dave

Edited Monday at 08:10 PM by RetiredMustang

[RetiredMustang]

Also, Captain Bart in his noon remarks (if I heard correctly) said that the reason they shifted from docking to tendering in Kodiak is because they did not have enough shuttles to run passengers to/from town.

 

Dave

[TableGirl]

2 hours ago, atexsix said:

it looks to me like the ship is fine for her age

The public areas are fine if a bit dark.  The flowers are still beautiful  of course.

 

I went on the cabin crawl a week ago and the rooms are okay for the most part but not great.  I hate a shower curtain for one - especially when I know they aren’t being washed in between passengers.  And they always blow in on me while I’m showering.  
 

The mirror in my bathroom is losing the finish on the underside, the bathtub is pitted and there are 3 different colors of beige between the sink, the counter, the bathtub and the walls.  The walls in some staterooms I noticed are marked (dirty or permanently marked?  I’m not sure) and the desk and the coffee table in my room are beat up.  My traveling party has similar issues.
 

I’ve always had great black out curtains on HAL but neither me or the rest of our traveling party think the curtains are black out.  Normally that would be fine by me but on a cruise where you have almost 24 hours of daylight most of the time, blackout curtains are important.

 

I really want HAL to keep these smaller to mid-size ships but they need to be updated regularly.  Not just the public areas but the rooms too.

[St Pete Cruiser]

21 minutes ago, RetiredMustang said:

 

I also think the ship looks fine.  But, while we have sailed on ships that are no longer in the fleet, the newest we have been on is Eurodam -- we have not sailed on the new Pinnacle class ships, so I can't compare Westerdam to those.

 

We first sailed on this Westerdam in 2007, and have been back several times.  Perhaps you can help my memory.  The first few times, I seem to remember that the atrium decoration was a delicate crystal or glass replica of the Half Moon, the old sailing ship that used to be part of the HAL logo (an in my opinion better than the current rather blah logo).  But, the last couple of times, the atrium art is a set of three rings:

 

 

 

Other than "hey look, three rings" I'm not sure what the art is supposed to say, if anything.  But, then, I don't "get" most modern art.  The atrium still has the glass-sided staircase to deck 2, and you can see a bit of the art studio on deck 1 that replaced, IIRC, the martini bar.

 

 

I also took other photos of the atrium area, the main part of which is the Ocean Bar, which is mostly of light wood veneers with accents of off-white and various blues:

 

 

 

There is a narrow set of seating along the starboard side near the bar:

 

 

 

 

But the wider port side and around the atrium has more seating:

 

 

 

In the alcove aft of the atrium are some fine carved-wood art pieces (that I actually understand what they are):

 

 

 

Dave

Yes, the atrium did have the Half Moon crystal/glass artwork.  Maybe it was damaged or was deemed to dated when the atrium was updated?

The elevator lobbies and of course those doors are like a very fine European Hotel.  

Thanks for sharing.  We were on the Westy from Yokohama to Vancouver in April 2019 and docked at Kodiak where they used school buses for the shuttles.  The times were limited as school was in session and the kids had priority!

[atexsix]

17 minutes ago, RetiredMustang said:

 

I also think the ship looks fine.  But, while we have sailed on ships that are no longer in the fleet, the newest we have been on is Eurodam -- we have not sailed on the new Pinnacle class ships, so I can't compare Westerdam to those.

 

We first sailed on this Westerdam in 2007, and have been back several times.  Perhaps you can help my memory.  The first few times, I seem to remember that the atrium decoration was a delicate crystal or glass replica of the Half Moon, the old sailing ship that used to be part of the HAL logo (an in my opinion better than the current rather blah logo).  But, the last couple of times, the atrium art is a set of three rings:

 

 

 

Other than "hey look, three rings" I'm not sure what the art is supposed to say, if anything.  But, then, I don't "get" most modern art.  The atrium still has the glass-sided staircase to deck 2, and you can see a bit of the art studio on deck 1 that replaced, IIRC, the martini bar.

 

 

I also took other photos of the atrium area, the main part of which is the Ocean Bar, which is mostly of light wood veneers with accents of off-white and various blues:

 

 

 

There is a narrow set of seating along the starboard side near the bar:

 

 

 

 

But the wider port side and around the atrium has more seating:

 

 

 

In the alcove aft of the atrium are some fine carved-wood art pieces (that I actually understand what they are):

 

 

 

Dave

It was so long ago and before the first refurbishment when they made the 3 sisters to look like the Noordam because she was the last built and received her updated design while still in the shipyard IIRC.  But I think the atrium had some type of crystal light fixture, I liked it and completely agree with the blandness of what they have now, like you I don't get modern/contemporary art at all and skipped those sections at the Louvre.

 

The Ocean Bar looks lovely and very inviting.  

 

On the previous batch of pictures regarding the seating in the elevator areas...UGH, that never seems to improve, there's either no seating at all or those hideous square things.  And it's not a space issue like someone at the desk told me on the Eurodam, I mapped it out on our deck, Rotterdam I believe and there was plenty of room for additional seating.  After covid they were gone completely so maybe that was for sanitary issues?

[atexsix]

8 minutes ago, TableGirl said:

The public areas are fine if a bit dark.  The flowers are still beautiful  of course.

 

I went on the cabin crawl a week ago and the rooms are okay for the most part but not great.  I hate a shower curtain for one - especially when I know they aren’t being washed in between passengers.  And they always blow in on me while I’m showering.  
 

The mirror in my bathroom is losing the finish on the underside, the bathtub is pitted and there are 3 different colors of beige between the sink, the counter, the bathtub and the walls.  The walls in some staterooms I noticed are marked (dirty or permanently marked?  I’m not sure) and the desk and the coffee table in my room are beat up.  My traveling party has similar issues.
 

I’ve always had great black out curtains on HAL but neither me or the rest of our traveling party think the curtains are black out.  Normally that would be fine by me but on a cruise where you have almost 24 hours of daylight most of the time, blackout curtains are important.

 

I really want HAL to keep these smaller to mid-size ships but they need to be updated regularly.  Not just the public areas but the rooms too.

Ewww on the shower curtains, thankfully I shower a lot in the men's lockerroom which are far nicer and have doors. I'm picky about bathrooms but somebody in the HAL forum called me "bubble boy" years ago so I keep those things to myself. Incidentally the bubble boy remark stemmed from my informing everybody of how I wipe down doorknobs and handles upon entering the stateroom, this was before covid....whose laughing now?

[St Pete Cruiser]

44 minutes ago, RetiredMustang said:

 

I also think the ship looks fine.  But, while we have sailed on ships that are no longer in the fleet, the newest we have been on is Eurodam -- we have not sailed on the new Pinnacle class ships, so I can't compare Westerdam to those.

 

We first sailed on this Westerdam in 2007, and have been back several times.  Perhaps you can help my memory.  The first few times, I seem to remember that the atrium decoration was a delicate crystal or glass replica of the Half Moon, the old sailing ship that used to be part of the HAL logo (an in my opinion better than the current rather blah logo).  But, the last couple of times, the atrium art is a set of three rings:

 

 

 

Other than "hey look, three rings" I'm not sure what the art is supposed to say, if anything.  But, then, I don't "get" most modern art.  The atrium still has the glass-sided staircase to deck 2, and you can see a bit of the art studio on deck 1 that replaced, IIRC, the martini bar.

 

 

I also took other photos of the atrium area, the main part of which is the Ocean Bar, which is mostly of light wood veneers with accents of off-white and various blues:

 

 

 

There is a narrow set of seating along the starboard side near the bar:

 

 

 

 

But the wider port side and around the atrium has more seating:

 

 

 

In the alcove aft of the atrium are some fine carved-wood art pieces (that I actually understand what they are):

 

 

 

Dave

Yes, the atrium did have the Half Moon crystal/glass artwork.  Maybe it was damaged or was deemed to dated when the atrium was updated?

The elevator lobbies and of course those doors are like a very fine European Hotel.  

Thanks for sharing.  We were on the Westy from Yokohama to Vancouver in April 2019 and docked at Kodiak where they used school buses for the shuttles.  The times were limited as school was in session and the kids had priority!

[atexsix]

18 minutes ago, TableGirl said:

The public areas are fine if a bit dark.  The flowers are still beautiful  of course.

 

I went on the cabin crawl a week ago and the rooms are okay for the most part but not great.  I hate a shower curtain for one - especially when I know they aren’t being washed in between passengers.  And they always blow in on me while I’m showering.  
 

The mirror in my bathroom is losing the finish on the underside, the bathtub is pitted and there are 3 different colors of beige between the sink, the counter, the bathtub and the walls.  The walls in some staterooms I noticed are marked (dirty or permanently marked?  I’m not sure) and the desk and the coffee table in my room are beat up.  My traveling party has similar issues.
 

I’ve always had great black out curtains on HAL but neither me or the rest of our traveling party think the curtains are black out.  Normally that would be fine by me but on a cruise where you have almost 24 hours of daylight most of the time, blackout curtains are important.

 

I really want HAL to keep these smaller to mid-size ships but they need to be updated regularly.  Not just the public areas but the rooms too.

A couple other things you mentioned.

 

The ultra friendly body hugging shower curtains, somebody posted a tip to prevent that, clothes pins maybe?

 

I avoid Alaska during the peak summer months because of all the daylight, it ruins the onboard ambience for me.  Which brings me to my last point, I like the darkened interiors of the ship, it created a contrasting warmth on what is predominantly a cold miserable rainy cruise the times of the year I go up there. 

[xLibLabLady]

4 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

We have been to Alaska and seen many unusual things there, but didn't know they had a plant to process rodents.  

Ray

Oops!   Typo!  LOL!