Noordam Dining times?

[Smartcookie]

Can anyone tell me which is the later "early" dining time on the Noordam, upper or lower?

 

Thanks!

[FlyingScotSailors]

Early upper used to be 5:45 and early lower 6:15. Now the Noordam, at least on our December 6 sailing, will have "Leisure Dining Service". If you are assigned early upper (5:45) or lower (6:15) you can arrive at the dining room between 5:30 and 6:00. If you have late dining upper or lower, you can arrive between 8:00 and 9:00. You will still be assigned a particular table (as has been done in the past), and that table is yours for the duration.

[Smartcookie]

Thank you, I like that system!

 

Can I ask why it says "never again" after your cruise on the Caribbean Princess, or is it too painful to relive? ;)

[FlyingScotSailors]

Smart Cookie,

It is not too painful, and actually related somewhat to this thread. We had to have ‘any time’dinner on Princess. We wanted a fixed, traditional dinner reservation but could not get one; one dining room was traditional fixed dining and the other two were any time. We made a standing reservation for the same time same table in one of the any time rooms. Although we had the same reservation each night, the table was usually not ready on time, was not completely set after we waited, and the waiters did not seem to remember that they had served us the night before.

 

Also food related were problems with the Lido buffets. There was no apparent pattern to the opening and closing of the various sections of the buffet; different selections would be offered at what appeared to be random times. And overall, the Lido did not seem to be laid out to accommodate passenger movement. In the same vein, the layout of the public rooms was awkward, with lounges opening directly into corridors. The art work was forgettable. The corridors to the staterooms were bland and would have been more appropriate in a generic hotel.

 

We returned to Holland America last year, after a period on Carnival cruises. Nothing really wrong with Carnival, perhaps some of the passengers are in a bit too much of a party mood, and the food seems to have improved into the really good range. However, Carnival (and certainly Princess) cannot compare to the Holland America experience in terms of service and the way the staff makes you feel.

 

When will you be sailing on the Noordam?

[Smartcookie]

Thanks for the info. We hope to be on the April 11th sailing, I'm still trying to decide between one cabin or two.

 

This will be my first time on HAL. I've cruised Disney, Celebrity, RCL, NCL and Carnival. I will likely never choose NCL or Carnival again, and I loved Celebrity. Service on NCL was virtually non-existent and while the service on Carnival was OK, some of the passengers were pretty rough around the edges, ok, RUDE.

 

I think I'm going to enjoy HAL.

[tomc]

Ah, a Smartcookie indeed; I'm also on the April 11 cruise. I just got off the Oct 14-25 cruise with the 5:30 - 6:00 dining and was very happy with it. You will enjoy HAL, as I have for many years.

[tomc]

Smartcookie --

 

If you want some reviews on the ship, etc., here are a few. Three of them are from the Oct. 14 cruise that I was on. The pages are current as of today, but as this page fills, they may push down a bit.

 

(1) p3. "A Pleasant Day Abord Noordam," by Host Doug.

(2) p5. "Review of the October 14, 2006 Noordam Caribbean Cruise," by speakertosuits.

(3) p6. "Also Live from the Noordam," by ESLO.

(4) "Live from the Noordam - Carib," by tomc (me). This is not a review as such, although I did a 7-part at the very end. It's more like a cruise diary.

[Smartcookie]

Thanks Tom, I'll look at them.

[tomc]

I think mine is either on page 6 or 7. Forgot to put it on my post.