Westerdam 3-18/3-25

[wmmerritt]

We are on our way home from the March 18th sailing of the Westerdam. A

great trip. Food was good, weather was good, crew was excellent.

 

This was our first cruise with our seven year old son and he had a great time at Club Hal, they had all kinds of activities for the kids.

We did not do any of the excursions, but took the time to explore on our own.

 

St. Thomas was busy with seven ships in port but not that bad. There seemed to have a bigger problem with litter off the waterfront than the last time we visited in 2003.

 

San Juan P.R. was interesting to say the least. We took one of the $20 taxi bus tours around the city.

 

Grand Turk was a nice beach day. My wife saw a medium size octopus hiding in the shallows. But no where near as nice a Half Moon Cay. One problem was that the swim boundary marker at the snorkel end of the beach was moved in about 75 feet closer to the beach, so the jetty was off limits. Not a lot of fish to see near the beach. My wife and I did venture out there but were whistled at by the lifeguard paddling his kayak (Yes, there was a lifeguard this time!!) and escorted back to the other side of the rope. Too bad.. that's where the best marine life was found.

[Herrbeir]

Paging Mr Garcia......

[E91]

Funny you mention this man. If you will recall this was with Captain #2 after Captain #1 finally got to leave the ship. We were in an aft Suite and went to the Suite cocktail party with Captain #2. Long story short, Captain #2 told me about the infamous Mr. Garcia. He was on the ship the entire time but "hiding out". It appears that he returned a rental car missing a front fender and bumper and claimed that the car was that way when he picked it up. The authorities were looking for him to deal with the mess. I guess they finally found Mr. Garcia. Captain #2 didn't elaborate further.

 

Paging Mr Garcia......

[lawyerrose]

Hi y'all!!

 

Doing laundry. :( Lots of laundry!

 

So that's the story of Mr. Garcia? Did you see the woman he was with? Those two were real pieces of work.:rolleyes:

 

What a great cruise! It was so good meeting the members of this board, too. Made the ship feel even friendlier and cozier. We are now both hooked on HAL. What a classy outfit!

 

The whole experience feels like a time out of time; like I went to another dimension, not just a vacation. I just wish our cruise had been Saturday to Saturday, as I was certainly not ready to go back to work today. Felt fuzzy-headed all day and my desk kept swaaaaying....:eek:

 

So, when's the next trip??

[hammybee]

Your posts are making me fuzzy-headed :) Glad you all had a great time and I enjoyed the Mr. Garcia story.

[wmmerritt]

Just pulled into our house here in Gresham OR. 10pm local, we've been on the go starting at 7AM eastern. The story in Mr. Garcia... what can you say.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome home -- glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[SmidgenAndBandit]

We will be boarding Westerdam in just a few days. :D

 

Does Westerdam have Cellular @ Sea yet? I didn't think it did, but they put a flyer in my docs about it.

[Brown Eyed Gurl]

What a wonderful cruise! Didn't want to come back home.

Too funny about Ramone Garcia! :D We were on the Promenade when Security and the Police were looking around the ship and in the water for him.

Westerdam does have cellular at sea, but we couldn't always get a connection.

[SandiSails]

I was on this cruise also. I thought the entertainment was a step above what I expected.Julie Barr,Joel Mason & Leo Ward were great and the Superstar competition with Drew as Mc and the entertainers as panel of judges was insane it was so.. funny!I thought I'd wet my pants..

[Herrbeir]

We were with one of the "Golden Girls". Never laughed so hard in my life. I still hurt.

[SandiSails]

The three entertainers were getting off the ship at the end of this cruise and so they let loose alot...I think they even shocked Drew a couple of times..

[kris29]

If that was the case who did the police bring on board while we were sailing out of port?

[CINCY40]

We have sailed five other HAL ships in the last couple years including two other Vista class and really enjoyed Westerdam.

 

Compliments:

 

We had a Deluxe veranda suite right across from the Neptune and it was perfect. Our steward, Adam, was about the best we have ever had. Jasmine and Rommel in the Neptune were excellent as well.

 

Pinnacle: Great dinner. Great breakfasts each day. Friendly and welcoming service. Amelia was particularly great.

 

Room Service: We are not fans of the dining room as DH is a picky eater. Willie who took the room service orders for dinner each night was very pleasant and followed up to be sure we were satisfied. Food was good, delivery was prompt and the trays were picked up within 1/2 hour which is better than any other HAL ship we have sailed.

 

Downers:

 

We had a very early flight out of Ft Lauderdale. (The only one we could get as we decided on the trip late) We were assured that we would be in the first group to depart the ship. However this did not prove to be the case. We turned out to be in the second. Also when we got to the baggage, one of our suitcases could not be found and when finally located it was in a different color group. I noticed there were a lot of them in the wrong group.

 

We were not impressed with Grand Turk and would not go there again.

 

All in all enjoyed the ship and would recommend the Westerdam to all.

 

Nancy

[O2B@C]

... We were not impressed with Grand Turk and would not go there again... Nancy

 

Thanks to all posters in this thread for the thoughts and information.

 

Nancy: What did you do in Grand Turk? What was it about the port that you did not like? Do you think your impression might have been different if you had done something different? If you had to go there again, what would you choose to do (other than stay on the ship :rolleyes: )? Just curious, because our Westerdam cruise will stop there in November and I am trying to plan what we will do. We are mostly beach people, and what I was thinking about was going to Governors Beach - any thoughts? Thanks!

[dreamcatcher]

how fun is it that anyone on the Westerdam this week shares the same 'inside' jokes...I was so impressed with the entertainment on board ... I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time, particularly the last night when Julie climbed up on the piano and it started sinking into the ground. And poor Mr. Garcia ... he had no idea he provided everyone with a good laugh that lasted throughout the week.

 

I'll post a full review very soon. I'm glad you all share the same good vibes.

 

(Club HAL rocks!)

 

JoAnne

[SandiSails]

and Drew's comment about the "Hoe Down?"I get the giggles just thinking about Julie and her two seventeen year olds!!

[Brown Eyed Gurl]

Nancy: What did you do in Grand Turk? What was it about the port that you did not like? Do you think your impression might have been different if you had done something different? If you had to go there again, what would you choose to do (other than stay on the ship :rolleyes: )? Just curious, because our Westerdam cruise will stop there in November and I am trying to plan what we will do. We are mostly beach people, and what I was thinking about was going to Governors Beach - any thoughts? Thanks!

 

Not Nancy, but, we really enjoyed Grand Turk our first time there. We did a b2b and the first time we did the hop on hop off bus. We were the only ship in port so it wasn't overcrowded. We first went to the lighthouse and spent alot of time exploring the beaches & trails there. It is very pretty, with several trails (one about 15mins that goes down to a beach, the other 25mins overlooks some cliffs, but there is another smaller trail that branches off this one and goes along the cliff line), shells, cliffs, untouched beaches, the north reef, and much plant, bird, & lizard life. Then we visited the prison and wandered around the town, which included a church, bar, tourist center, clock tower, beach/national park, houses, and some shopping. We never made it to the 3rd stop. The 2nd time there on the next cruise, we stayed at the beach & cruise terminal, which was overcrowded with another ship in port that day. There are several shops and a Maragaritaville in the cruise terminal.