Tell me about Noordam Thinking of Spring of 2007

[Nick Needs To Know]

My parents asked me to check into Noordam for them since we live in New York, they like the idea of not flying and they would like to try HAL. The catch is that they would like myself and my future wife, both in our very late thirties to join them. Will we all be happy on this ship? Would you be kind enough to either confirm or deny the following rumors:

 

1) HAL attracts a much older passenger and, in general, the ship is quiet by 11pm at night.

 

2) HAL has very attractive ships and rooms are very generous in size.

 

3) HAL food is bland (if possible please compare to other lines like Princess)

 

4) HAL is noted for good service onboard it's ships

 

And anything you'd like to tell me specifically about Noordam would really be appreciated. Thanks

[grannynurse]

My parents asked me to check into Noordam for them since we live in New York, they like the idea of not flying and they would like to try HAL. The catch is that they would like myself and my future wife, both in our very late thirties to join them. Will we all be happy on this ship? Would you be kind enough to either confirm or deny the following rumors:

 

1) HAL attracts a much older passenger and, in general, the ship is quiet by 11pm at night.

 

2) HAL has very attractive ships and rooms are very generous in size.

 

3) HAL food is bland (if possible please compare to other lines like Princess)

 

4) HAL is noted for good service onboard it's ships

 

And anything you'd like to tell me specifically about Noordam would really be appreciated. Thanks

 

The Vista class ships are marketed to and appeal to younger pax. There isn't a tremendous amount of night life on board after midnight but it depends on the itinerary and the season. A very port-intensive trip will have less night life because of early shore tours. Casinos, crow's nest, and night club tend to stay open later.

 

Hal has the largest standard cabins afloat, not glitzey, but well-appointed. The new mattresses are heavenly. The veranda cabins and suites are very generously sized. Lots of drawer space (more on S and R class), plenty of closet space, and bathtubs, many with whirlpools. Lots of little extras like bathrobes, fresh flowers, personalized stationary, flat screen TV's. Fewer PA announcements than other lines, hors d'ouerves served in the lounges before dinner. Oh, and the verandas are definitely good-sized and have floor-to-ceiling windows.

 

Food is subjective and we've had our share of mediocre to excellent but there are many choices and no one will go hungry. Service in the dining room is great. Once my salmon was under done and they bent over backwards trying to make up for it.

 

The service and crew attitudes are what made us fall in love with HAL. It's such a friendly and personal atmosphere.

Absolutely the best of any cruiseline we've experienced.

Hope this helps,

GN

[starysacz]

Cruised twenty five times on various S and R ships and decided to give the Noordam a try last April. It was a good choice. We enjoyed the excellent service from the crew, the food was not bland. Plenty of room in the suite, but did not look at another categories while on board. Front office girls and concierge staff very helpful and we do email each other. They are presently in Europe at this time.

 

Not sure about nite life. I am in bed by around 10 and DW will go to show and return around 11 after socializing.

 

We are booked on the Noodam again, Feb. 17th, for eleven days and we are looking forward to it. Will go back to S or R ships depending on the itinerary.

 

We think you will enjoy.:)

[nurseblissful]

we are booked on the noordam in march 2007. this will be our first cruise on the vista class ships. we went on the maasdam and loved it. i did not think the food bland at all. i can almost remember the food better than the islands. pheasant cooked in white wine with cranberry gnosh, prawns with wasabi cocktail sauce, a delicious conch chowder, duck and black bean quesadillas, crepe suzettes in grand manier (sp?). and my dh and i had loved the sausage in the morning. had some lamb that was a little fatty. but every thing else was wonderful. and they have sandwiches in the afternoon, and fresh cookies, ice cream with homemade waffle cones. i am gaining weight writing this....lol. i think you will love it. the paz tend to be less rowdy (and rude!), so we definitely thought it a plus. we are in our 40s and found plenty of places to be wild. it is all in how much fun you plan on having....enjoy!

[RuthC]

1) HAL attracts a much older passenger and, in general, the ship is quiet by 11pm at night.

In general this is true, but I found it less so on the Noordam. I toddled off to bed about 1:00 AM; the casino was still going strong.

 

2) HAL has very attractive ships and rooms are very generous in size.

The Noordam is as beautiful as all the other HAL ships I've sailed---ie, all the S-class and 3 of the R-class. The Vista cabins are smaller than comparable category cabins on the S-and R-class ships.

 

3) HAL food is bland (if possible please compare to other lines like Princess)

HAL food is typically not highly spiced. That's ok with me! There are some choices that are more highly spiced, though.

 

4) HAL is noted for good service onboard it's ships

Absolutely! I did find the service on the Noordam to be less personal than on the smaller ships, however. I think this may be because that are that many more people for the crew to get to know.

 

And anything you'd like to tell me specifically about Noordam would really be appreciated. Thanks

I still prefer the smaller ships, and I do not like the Caribbean, but I would consider this cruise again. It's still a good cruise and the convenience (and beauty) of sailing from NYC is a big plus.

[GMoney]

IMO, the Noordam is by far the best cruise experience sailing from the NYC area, and I am not a HAL fan.

[kaleighsgram]

Sailed on the Noordam last spring and loved it. The staff and the beds are the best anywhere. We had some good and some very good meals, but not bland at all. I did notice more elderly people than I have at other times but I also enjoyed making their acquaintance and having a good chat. All age groups were represented.

Cheers

[BZEKE]

I think the reason for more older folks on Holland America is, after being around

for a while you know and appreciate the best.

[Sunshine91]

Hi Nick -

 

John & I are (gulp) early 40s. We had so much fun on the inaugural we just booked Noordam again for Jan 2007. There is PLENTY to do after dinner ;) .

 

1. The inaugual probably skewed a littled older with lots of Mariners. I'm guessing subsequent voyages had the normal balance of age ranges. From NYC Noordam alternates 10/11 day Caribbean trips so you likely won't see lots of kids except during school holidays. In the evenings there's the casino, piano bar, show lounge, crow's nest, midnight buffet, disco, explorations cafe, ocean bar, flaming desserts in the explorer's lounge, etc etc etc. The list just goes on. You'll make new friends & will want to spend time with them.

 

2. Noordam is GORGEOUS. Not just my opinion. We had a VD cabin. Liked it so much, we booked the exact same one. How much space you want in a cabin is all a matter of personal preference. Doug has a thread/poll going about which cabins folks choose. Some just look at it as a place to sleep & shower. Others want a really spacious place to spend time.

 

3. For the most part, the food was just fine. I'm not that adventurous, but will try some new things, especially since it's already paid for. If I don't like it, I don't feel too bad about ordering something different. On the inaugural, there were some problems with things not being cooked right & slow delivery, but that was just kinks being worked out. I'm sure things are just fine in the dining room now.

 

4. HAL's service is outstanding. Cabin & bar attendants - wonderful. Lido staff was very friendly & helpful. Always with a smile. You ask for something one time & then next time it's there waiting for you.

 

Not having to fly - priceless. You asked would you all be happy on this ship. How could you be unhappy on any ship? You're on a cruise. Hope you decide to do it & have a wonderful time. :)

[Bodger]

We sailed on the Volendam in March and the Carribean Princess in April. The HAL food was far superior to the Princess offerings. The beef on Princess tasted funny:mad: , the HAL beef was great. My wife is a vegetarian and she was extremely happy with the food on HAL and disappointed with Princess.

 

I have a question regarding the Noordam out of NYC in winter. Just how cold is it? Are the first and last couple of days too cold in the Atlantic in late February and early March. I am wondering if we are better off to spend a little more and fly to FLL instead and have better weather.

 

Thanks,

 

Bodger

[RuthC]

I have a question regarding the Noordam out of NYC in winter. Just how cold is it? Are the first and last couple of days too cold in the Atlantic in late February and early March. I am wondering if we are better off to spend a little more and fly to FLL instead and have better weather.

Bodger, I sailed the Noordam 3/15-25---a bit later than you want info on.

 

I was blissfully happy the at-sea days, but to be fair, I like it cold.

I would say that 3/16 and 3/24 were too cold out for everyone else. But the other two sea days had lots of folks out on the aft deck and in the aft pool.

[AlohaPride]

I can't answer this question until after our December 16th Noordam NY Christmas cruise....

 

I expect it to be cold in NY and for the first couple of days at sea - but DH and I want to see snow and have better chances of that by sailing from NY :p

 

We are wondering if we will be able to get in and out of the hot tub while it's cold :D it would feel great to be seeing your breath (how cool is that?!) outside the hot tub and be all toasty warm inside...maybe we are just weird, but when it's raining and in the 60s here we get in the jacuzzi. Anyways, I'm really looking forward to the cold weather...

 

 

P.S. It's been in the high 80s here all month. And we have a Tropical Storm heading our way...:eek:

 

P.P.S Oops, I'm sorry, it's only 84 today

[cruisinbulldog]

I was blissfully happy the at-sea days, but to be fair, I like it cold.

I would say that 3/16 and 3/24 were too cold out for everyone else. But the other two sea days had lots of folks out on the aft deck and in the aft pool. __________________

 

 

How long does it take out of NY to get to warmer waters?

[RuthC]

How long does it take out of NY to get to warmer waters?

3/17 and 3/23 were quite warm---if not hot.

In other words, we sailed on Wednesday; Thursday was cool/cold for most; Friday was warm/hot.

On return the sea-day Thursday was warm/hot, and the sea-day Friday was cold. We docked on Saturday.

[Sunshine91]

John & I sailed on the inaugural (Feb 22). Leaving NYC was COLD. You need to keep your coat if you want to roam about outside on deck.

 

By mid-day the 1st sea-day we were off the coast of FLA. It was a bit overcast & breezy. Plenty of peeps in the middle pool, but the glass roof was closed. John & I sat outside by the aft pool to enjoy the fresh air. I think we were wearing shorts & maybe long-sleeved Ts. Since it was overcast, I probably used a towel to help keep me warm. If it had been sunny, don't think I would have needed it. But that's just me - I'm either hot or cold, never just comfortable. No one in the aft pool that day.

 

Second sea day, Caribbean waters. Lovely weather.

 

On the return, pretty much the same, in reverse. Now, we did encounter some rough Atlantic seas that last night. I LOVED it. John got tossed out of bed. Have any of you met my husband? He's a pretty big, no, really big guy. Had to be verrrry rough seas to toss that big boy out of bed. I just laughed. Not at him, poor baby. I just thought the rough seas part was so enjoyable. Woo hoo, ride 'em cowboy! We were on Deck 4. We had splashes on our balcony the waves were so high.

 

Upon our return, we sailed under the Verrazano Bridge at daybreak. Absolutely stunning. The aft deck was FROZEN over. Ice on our balcony, too. Did I mention above that you need to bring your coat with you & not leave it in your car at the pier or the airport?

 

Of course, it was heavenly in the Caribbean, 85 degrees, knowing that back home in Delaware it was freezing & we were having the most wonderful time. Gonna do it again in January. :)

[Bodger]

Thanks to all for the answers. NYC weather is going to be much like Toronto in March, and frankly that holds little appeal come late winter. I suppose if I had to suffer through a Hawaiian winter I might feel differently:rolleyes: .

 

We are now thinking of the Volendam out of FLL to Panama and Costa Rica.

 

Bodger