Westerdam 12-17-06 A Reality Check

[Wildcats]

Last year, my wife and I took our first cruise. After much deliberation, and reading this forum and others, we decided to take the Zuiderdam. We had no idea what to expect since on this forum, the reviews ranged from "horrible ship, crew, food, bed, room, port stops, .... I will never take another Holland America cruise" to "Fabulous trip, best vacation ever, ship is in fantastic shape, food excellent, crew wonderful, etc, can't wait to go again". These types of widely varying reviews were often from the same week!!!!

 

We returned from our second cruise on the Westerdam on Christmas Eve and had a great time. Was it perfect? No, but it was a great trip.

 

So for others thinking of taking their first Holland America Cruise, here are some photos so judge for yourself as to some of the common issues I see raised on this forum.

 

Complaint: The food is bland, and poorly presented

 

Reality: The following photos are from dinners served in the Vista Dining Room on our Cruise. Judge for yourself!

 

1) Beef Wellington http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4595bc95_ef31/bc/Westerdam/Westerdam+Beef+Wellington.jpg?BCGqzlFB3ABwlxKM

2) Fish Cake Appetizer

http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4595bc95_ef31/bc/Westerdam/Westerdam+Fish+Cakes.jpg?BCGqzlFBRpbDfagY

3) Chicken Parmignon Dinner

http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4595bc95_ef31/bc/Westerdam/Westerdam+Chicken+Parmignon.jpg?BCGqzlFBjIYWF3_t

 

4) Surf and Turf Dinner

http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4595bc95_ef31/bc/Westerdam/Westerdam+Surf+and+Turf.jpg?BC28zlFBPk8DgSU4

 

Complaint: The ship is in worn out condition.

Reality: This is a two year old ship and is in excellent condition. Yes, there are some areas that are not brand new. During our week on ship, I found THE WORST carpet on a stair tread on the 8th deck near the elevator. Also, there are complaints that the elevators are "beat up". After much looking, there are some scratches on some brass railings inside some of the elevators, I suspect from carts and belt buckles rubbing on them. THESE ARE THE WORST EXAMPLES OF WEAR. I also have included typical appearances of carpeting around the ship as well.

 

1) Brass rail scratches inside elevator

http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4595bc95_ef31/bc/Westerdam/Westerdam+Elevator+Scratches.jpg?BCGqzlFBhykOrA.O

2) Worn Carpet on Tread from 8th deck

http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4595bc95_ef31/bc/Westerdam/Westerdam+worn+carpet.jpg?BCGqzlFBRRiXFXO8

3)Typical Carpeted Area near elevator

http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4595bc95_ef31/bc/Westerdam/Westerdam+Elevator+Carpet.jpg?BCGqzlFBLuJwj.ii

4) Another typical area of carpeting near Crow's Nest

http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4595bc95_ef31/bc/Westerdam/Westerdam+Crows+Nest.jpg?BCGqzlFBYx_Tuqur

5) Floral Decoration on Westerdam

http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4595bc95_ef31/bc/Westerdam/Westerdam+Floral+Display.jpg?BCGqzlFBWjvxfCrH

6) Lido Pool Area

http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4595bc95_ef31/bc/Westerdam/Westerdam+Lido+Pool+Area.jpg?BCGqzlFBU56.sZHX

7) Veranda on a SB Cabin

http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4595bc95_ef31/bc/Westerdam/Westerdam+Veranda.jpg?BCGqzlFBY6JHwG5i

 

We did see some very poorly maintained cap rails on the ship, in fact, they are in horrible condition. But wait, these are not on the Westerdam, but the Carnival Victory docked next to us at Costa Maya!

 

1) Carnival Victory Cap Rails and Veranda

http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4595bc95_ef31/bc/Westerdam/Carnival+Victory+Cap+Rail.jpg?BCGqzlFB1ghpo5io

 

By the way, I talked with some of the ship's crew who were refinishing deck chairs. They told me they refinish them twice a MONTH! This seems excessive but they do look beautiful. Here is an example of Westerdam deck furniture near the Crow's Nest:

 

1) Furniture Near Crow's Nest

 

http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4595bc95_ef31/bc/Westerdam/Westerdam+Deck+Furniture.jpg?BC28zlFBODDY3mbg

 

Complaint: I have seen complaints, in November from someone who said the salads were horrible and there was only one choice, etc. complain, whine.

Reality: See this menu from our dinner on the Westerdam from 12-18. Dinner was excellent!

 

1)Westerdam Dinner Menu from 12-18-06

http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4595bc95_ef31/bc/Westerdam/Westerdam+Dinner+Menu.pdf?BC28zlFBXTWdra3k

 

For the curious, many people rightly rave about the coffee machine in the Neptune lounge (available only for suite SA, SB, SC, and higher suites).

 

Coffee Machine:

http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4595bc95_ef31/bc/Westerdam/Westerdam+Coffee+Machine.jpg?BC28zlFBhnx1CP8R

 

We also think that the beds are great as do many others. In fact, my Mother and Sister, who went on their first Holland America cruise admitted that they are better than the Crystal Line. I think they were quite surprised at the quality of the Westerdam in comparison to the Crystal Line. They admitted it was quite a good value. They felt the food on Crystal was better ( as it should be for twice the price), and that the entertainment was better on the Crystal line. They said that the SB cabin they had was much better on the Westerdam than the Crystal Line also.

 

1) Sealy Mattress

 

http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/4595bc95_ef31/bc/Westerdam/Westerdam+Sealy+Mattress.jpg?BC28zlFBfPuzRu7P

 

 

 

So, in summary, is the Westerdam or any Holland America ship perfect in every way? No it is not. But we did have a great time, had excellent food and a lot of fun.

 

By the way, don't miss out on the "American Idol" type of singing competition for the passengers. It is quite entertaining and is not to be missed.

 

Tom

 

PS These photos are fairly high resolution and may take a few seconds on a dsl or cable modem. They all are less than 700kb in size. For dial up users, they may be more than you want to wait. I did want them to be good resolution so that you all can see what there is to enjoy on the Westerdam. I sure hope my links work as well!

[Jsipes]

So nice to see someone esle takes digital photos of the exceptional presentations during dinner !!!! We have done so in the past, and even sweet talked our waiter for a set of menus for one entire cruise ......

 

As for the complaints, I think HAL does a terrific job, and maybe the complainers are just going thru a bad time when they were typing........

[waiting2retire]

Thank you so much for your post. It's always nice to hear of others' experiences. Unfortunately, the links to the photos do not work for me. I hope others will have better luck.

[Wildcats]

Sorry everyone! Hoped to avoid adding to server load here on CC. My Yahoo links did not work! However, to view all of the photos please see them here in the Westerdam file.

 

Tom

 

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/komadina@nvbell.net

[JLC@SD]

thanks for posting your comments and photos......as they say.....a picture is worth 1000 words....;)

[waiting2retire]

That's better... Great photos, thank you!

[Navy_Chief]

At first, I thought I was losing it!:D Thanks for the link and review Tom. That Beef Wellington looks just like what was put in front of me on Noordam :D . The Noordam crew was doing maintenance in port on the balconies, mostly freash water washdown, but on my parents side of the ship, they were refreashing the varnish coat. I doubt you will ever see rails on a Dam ship look like those on Victory:D. We need to keep in mind just whay kind of damage constant exposure to the salt water environment can do, hence the constant maintenance cycle on exposed deck furnature and railings.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for the report.

 

I have dial - up . Will try to get the pictures to come in later.

[spcl4cs_gal]

Wow those unvarnished railings remind me of the ones we had on the NCL Dawn this past summer. :p I couldn't believe it when I saw how they were chipped, cracked and peeling all over the place. Give me Holland American any day!

[SarahQ]

Wildcats,

 

I think you hit the nail right on the head. We were on the Westerdam the week before you, and as we embarked I was thinking of all the negative things that I had heard...personally, I disagreed with 90% of it.

 

We though the food was excellent, the ship was in great shape, Pinnacle was fantastic etc.

 

It was great to see someone post a review addressing these issues directly...the proof is in the pudding as they say.

 

Of course, cruising is subjective and we did hear lots of complaints on our cruise (it really started to wear on me after a while)...although most of the complaining came from one particular large group of elderly passengers. I won't blame the complaining on their age; but rather, when I actually heard some of them out, it seemed that their complaints were either because of their own expectations being out of line with what cruising/HAL is all about, or due to issues that involved other passengers and weren't really HAL's fault.

 

I'll say again to anyone who is using CruiseCritic to find reviews of a ship they are going on - look at all the info objectively, and take it with a grain of salt (good and bad)...in the final analysis, the enjoyment you get out of your cruise is based on your attitude :)

[mahlerlover]

MY PC would not let me open the pictures - is the website address correct?

[Iamthesea]

I cannot see them either, and I am needing a "cruise fix" real bad! :D

[cruisinjudy]

I will have a tough time making up my mind on that menu next month on Oosterdam! I want it all!

[Wildcats]

Sorry for the link problem, ahh my isp AT&T does it again! At any rate you can see the photos at (I hope ):

 

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/komadina@nvbell.net

 

You will have to select the individual photos under the "Westerdam" file.

 

In comparison to our Zuiderdam trip in 11/05 we did see some differences.

 

For example, the lobster this trip was better quality this year. The meats were uniformly excellent. They know how to do beef! ( and chicken for that matter). The desserts are their weak spot, they certainly are acceptable but nothing to write home about. They could do better in this area. I also felt that they are trying to "push" their profit centers more than last year. For example, before the first vista lounge show, they had the guy from the art auction pushing people to come to the auction. Also, our assistant waiter, Charlie, one night asked us to buy some bottled water since they are "rated" on how much they sell. In my comment card, I asked them to stop this stuff. I feel that since you PREPAY for the cruise and we are there to relax we all don't need this stuff. I suggested, yes, that they raise their prices some and not try to push addons to people on the cruise. I told them we get enough of this at home.

 

Having said this, the trip was great overall and we had a wonderful time.

 

Some observations about the trip:

 

1) Holland America has embarkation down. We we arrived at the cruise port in Ft Lauderdale, we were met at the curb by the porters, and they took all of our luggage (there were 5 of us in two cabins) and took it inside. We walked inside and went to the desk ( there were two groups ahead of us) and promptly got our room cards, passed through security and in less than 25 minutes were in the Lido having lunch. My mother and sister joined us on this trip. My mother has only gone on Crystal line before after a bad experience on Princess, so we hoped that they would have a good time, considering Crystal's reputation. I was concerned since HA had given my Mother and Sister a "TBA" on their cruise docs for their room. I wondered what that would turn out to be when we checked in. I e mailed HA and never got a response before the cruise ( a weak spot of HA in my opinion). However, instead of the SC cabin they were supposed to get, they got an SA cabin upgrade right near the Neptune lounge! We were happy for them. We we got to the front of the line the woman told us that we didn't have cabin 6088, an SB cabin. We went on the Zuiderdam last year for our first cruise and were in an SS cabin, and wanted to try one of the larger cabins this year since our son was travelling with us. At any rate, we were concerned since they did not show us in cabin 6088, the room listed on our cruise documents. Instead they had upgraded us to an SA cabin right next door to my Mother and Sister!!! They also correctly put us at the same table for dinner. So, after reading complaints about cabins and dinner seating, I have to say HA did a great job by us. My mother and sister loved their cabin and commented that it was better than Crystal's cabins. (this was a hard admission since they thought Crystal would be better in every way!!!). So, roll with the punches and I think you will find things turn out fine.

 

2) I really don't think you need to buy your excursion tickets before hand. We bought all of ours the night before each port and it was no problem. This way you can see how you feel about things the day before and not feel obligated to buy in advance.

 

3) When you arrive in Costa Maya, don't buy anything at the vendors closest to the dock. They try to pull you into their shops and are very high priced. Go further down the row, and you will find the prices much more agreeable. My son was interested in an onyx chess set, but at the stores closest to the dock they were "listed" for $200. Further back, we saw a beautiful set for $20! They store rep offered to sell us two of the same sets for $30 so we took them! So, at any rate shop further back before deciding.

 

4) The Neptune lounge on board ship was very nice. We have not been in a cabin with Neptune privleges before so this was great. It is a little more expensive to get a cabin with Neptune privleges, but if finances permit, I would recommend it. These are the SA, SB, and SC cabins plus the ? presidential suite. The SA, SB and SC cabins are the same size (510 sq ft) and the only difference is location. If you don't have a strong feeling about location, I would pick an SC cabin since they are less expensive. The concierge was helpful in the Neptune and made all of our excursion reservations for us. Also, there is a Wireless hotspot in the Neptune lounge so you do get a good laptop to router connection.

 

5) Internet Access

 

We purchased internet time again (got to read my e mails!). The price has gotten more expensive since last year. It is now $120 for 230 minutes which seems steep to me. This compares to $100 for 250 minutes last year on the Zuiderdam. The service is via satellite hook up and glacial! It typically takes about 1-2 minutes to load each page. Gosh, I guess I can't criticize ATT so much since my home DSL line is very fast. We are spoiled Americans! We found that basically, there was only enough time to check e mails and not surf like I usually do at home. But considering we are on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic, I guess this is ok. I think some of this is how you look at things!!!

 

6) The dive trip at Grand Turk was a delight. We did the "power snorkeling" trip and it was great and reasonably priced for the 3 hours ($69). This included transport to the dive location. You used a SeaDoo power snorkeling device and it was a hoot to use. You went all the way to the edge of the continental shelf and could see the edge. This was about 1000 feet off shore. At that point the shelf dropped off to a reported depth of 7000 feet! We didn't verify the depth! We did see a nurse shark, sting ray, and lots of fish. At Half Moon Cay, my son and I also saw two barracuda just a few feet away from us!

 

Overall, we had a very pleasurable trip, and I know my mother and sister did as well. It isn't perfect but darn close!!!

 

 

Tom

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Tom, thanks for your review and pictures:)

I do not think I have ever seen any one take a picture and post it of the Coffee Machine in the Neptune Lounge, I like it;) Brings back great memories:D

[retiredldo]

I think some of the complaints come from the older Halites if that is a good term I remember going on the Zuiderdam just after she came out and the vista class ship was a change for HAL and it seems that the older Hal folks were a bit disappointed with the large size (compared to the other ships of Hal) and the service change, But if order for HAL to be more competitive, they had to change the demographics of the ship. Sarah I think you are right on the money when some folks expectations are not met, hence the complaints.

Pete

[Wildcats]

"I do not think I have ever seen any one take a picture and post it of the Coffee Machine in the Neptune Lounge"

What can I say, I am a geek!! Actually, I have learned a bunch on this forum so I am trying to do some pay back. We picked the Zuiderdam last year after reading this and other forums. I thought the Holland America line sounded like us, and I think we chose well.

After reading people's comments about the ship, I thought actual photos of some things would add some levity and make people realize that maybe some people's attitude have something to do with it!

I don't get people who go to MacDonalds at home and are completely satisfied with decor, food, even the carpeting!, but then find the least little thing to complain about on a cruise ship. I guess because it is an expensive trip we all have high expectations.

Tom

[cruznon]

I LOVE that coffee machine!!! One of the best perks of having a suite on HAL!!!!

[db777]

I agree the picture of the coffee machine brings back fond memories... Cappuccino anytime...and it was really quite good...of course right now I wouldn't mind a cup of the hot chocolate.... thanks for the posting....DB