Noordam’s Inaugural Transit Through Panama Canal

[RustaRoo]

I arrived home on Saturday from this fantastic voyage and offer a few (likely lengthy) comments. Like many before me, those who sail on the Noordam love her! She is indeed a beauty.

 

I arranged our Cruise Critic get-together and 35 of 45 people showed up. Personalized invitations were extended to Captain John Scott, Hotel Manager Henk Mensink, Cruise Director Drew Murdock and they all attended. In addition, Roy (environmental officer) and Susan (future cruise consultant) also attended. It was wonderful to have these fine folks take time to attend and to speak to our group and then visit and mingle with our members over coffee.

 

Though the cruise included stops (some better than others) in Cartagena (Columbia), Peurto Quetzal (Guatamala), Puntarenas (Costa Rica), Huatulco (Mexico), Acapulco (Mexico), Cabo San Lucas (Mexico) and Los Angeles, CA (USA) the absolute highlight of the cruise was the full transit through the Panama.

 

The perfect complement to this cruise was the guest lecturer onboard, Richard Holt, who grew up in the Panama (his father worked on the canal). This 72-year old gentleman gave insightful, historic and personal information throughout the entire day, from 6:30 am until 4:30 pm. He was fabulous and added so much to the experience. Also, a large tour group from Panama City came out to one of the locks to cheer us on as we made our inaugural passage. Quite remarkable! Also, the Captain and Panamanian officials exchanged gifts to mark the occasion.

 

There were 1100 Mariners onboard and two appreciation functions were held, a champagne reception (for newbies) and a Mariner’s Society Luncheon (for 50-day plus, pin/medal holders). The set menu luncheon, which included complimentary wine, was very good:

Appetizer - Jumbo Shrimp Caesar Salad – garlic croutons

Entrée – Mariner Trio of Grilled Salmon Fillet with Soy Kalbi Sauce, Lamb Chop with Apple Chutney, and Cheddar Quiche with Caramelized Onions, grilled asparagus and scalloped potatoes

Dessert – Grand Marnier Soufflé, vanilla sauce, Coffee or Tea

 

Congratulations to MAPilgrim (Stewart) on receiving his 100-day Copper Medallion! Of note was one mariner in attendance who had 1550 days at sea – quite a role model for the rest of us.

 

I was onboard for 17 days (Fort Lauderdale to Vancouver, BC) and there were 5 formal nights. Let me go on record as stating I enjoy formal nights and wore a tux each time. For the first four nights, I noticed the majority were in compliance with the recommended code. The last formal night was an absolute joke (out of LA) as by far the majority flaunted the recommended dress code and wore at best what could only be described as trailer-trash casual. Perhaps people thought since they were only getting on for the last three or four days (repositioning), it would be appropriate to dress and act like they were at a frat party? Kudos to the rest of you who maintained a certain decorum and manner of dress, in spite of the odds.

 

The casino is non-smoking and was packed every night. I anticipate it will remain this way. I made several donations to the Casino to show my support.

 

For the first two weeks the Pinnacle Grill had only a handful of people in it each night. It appears people are making choices as to where to spend additional money.

 

Champagne flowed freely on this cruise: at the Captain’s welcome receptions (with the good nuts, RuthC!) and, for the first time in my experience, at the “Disembarkation talk/Crew farewell/Love in Any Language” party. Very nice!

 

I was invited to a reception hosted by the Captain and the Hotel Manager where complimentary drinks and appetizers were available.

 

Every single night in the Ocean Bar, hot appetizers were served and a three piece combo played music for dancing prior to dinner. Most nights a lone piano player played to an empty Crow’s Nest. On the nights when the Hal Kats group played there or had a function hosted by DJ Jazzy, people showed up in droves, as they were craving something to do. This wasn’t a young crowd and the nightclub was hit/miss on numbers of people attending. It’s a big time mistake not have a band play in the Crow’s Nest every night.

 

Speaking of entertainment, in my opinion, it was a bit mediocre. I stopped attending the evening shows after being disappointed several times. The house musicians onboard are very, very versatile however. Kory Simon, Piano Bar guru, always had a packed room every night. I called them PBGs, Piano Bar Groupies, as the same ladies sat glued to their seats swooning over the 26-year old hunk on a nightly basis. Throw in the fact that he’s very talented, personable and entertaining so there was no question he was a winner. In fact, he was given the opportunity of putting on a matinee show with the Hal Kats orchestra one afternoon. And for that too he had a full house. The Hal Kats played by the Lido midship pool each day. (Yes, they still play quite loudly but I found it tolerable.)

 

The gym was well utilized but the hydrotherapy pool was not. The (free) saunas are tiny and hold about 3 people each. There is a shower within the sauna area, but no sink or toilet. I enjoyed a 75 minute hot stone massage and was in heaven the rest of the day – such relaxation. Quite expensive at $200, for this gimmick, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

 

One thing we had problem with was the disconnect between HAL head office in Seattle and the ship, regarding ordering of gifts (on-line or via Ship Services). We ordered all of our excursions on-line and had no problems. We also ordered wine cards, champagne and liquor to be in our stateroom on arrival. Only our champagne was there and even though we had brought our confirmation e-mails with a confirmation number from HAL, the Front Office would not accept that as proof we had pre-ordered without first contacting Seattle. This took two days and was VERY annoying. Also, upon arrival home we found that a friend had sent us three bottles of wine as a gift and we only received two. So there are definitely problems there. Others have had better luck by phoning Ship Services directly so for the time being I would not be recommending that anyone order gifts on-line. Ours was not an isolated incident either, as I spoke with several people who had similar experiences. One couple phoned home to their family and were asked how they liked their bon voyage flowers and champagne gifts and had to say they never received anything! What a disappointment for their son and daughter-in-law who were trying to do something special for their parent’s anniversary (first time cruise). Others also waited two/three days to have the Front Office resolve the problem with Seattle. There are huge communication breakdowns between head office and the ship. Henk is aware of this and they are ‘working on it’.

 

At the end of the cruise, I (and my traveling companion Heather) were invited as Cruise Critic representatives, to meet with Hotel Manager Henk Mensink and Cruise Director, Drew Murdock, for a Q&A on the cruise. Also in attendance was a group leader for a group on board (125 persons) and also a Travel Agent. The six of us just chatted about the (many) pros and the (few) cons for about 20 minutes. Henk took notes throughout and appeared genuinely interested in what we had to say.

 

Upon arrival in LA, everyone had to get off the ship, regardless if you had planned on going ashore or not, to clear US customs. This wasted two and a half hours of the day as you could not re-board until everyone had been cleared. [Note, this has NOTHING to do with HAL but is strictly US Customs rules.] This necessitated everyone being booted out of the terminal building into the hot sunshine where you had to queue up and wait and wait. There were no chairs and no refreshments offered. I saw one person collapse from the heat who required medical attention. Also, prior to sail-away they removed another person by stretcher to ambulance (I don’t know if it was the same person).

 

One funny thing - the pie crust chef needs a refresher as the lemon pie crust was inedible, everyone sent it back the night it was offered. You couldn’t have cut that hard sucker with an electric carving knife.

 

In closing, finally(!):

§ I have never been happier with the décor on a ship as the ms Noordam, though she’s 15 months old and showing some minor wear (thread bare spots on some carpeted stairs and in elevators, some graffiti in an elevator which needs to be sanded off the brass)

§ The Captain and all crew and staff I interacted with were first-rate (Sir Richard does have a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?)

§ The pizza/pasta bar is superb; the ready made sandwiches are convenient; the sushi bar was very popular, the made-to-order omelets are outstanding; the cinnamon ice cream in a waffle cone – heck, the food in general was plentiful and varied and always provided me with satisfaction (and a few extra pounds I’m sure)

§ And to top it all off, the weather was superb!

 

Even though I did not talk about the ports of call, I’d be happy to try to answer any questions you may have about them or any aspect of the cruise.

[ldog]

Thank you so much for the comprehensive review. I really appreciate all the information I can get about a Panama Canal transit. We are on the Volendam in October.

 

What did you do in the ports of Cartagena, Huatalco and Puntarenas? :)

[sail7seas]

Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful post with us. So happy you enjoyed Noordam so much........she really is a fabulous ship with an amazing crew, isn't she???!!!

 

Great review! Welcome back.

 

[RustaRoo]

What did you do in the ports of Cartagena, Huatalco and Puntarenas? :)

Detailed information about each of these excursions is available on HAL's website; these were our choices:

 

In Cartagena we did the City Tour (I was still using crutches because of a broken ankle and there was WAY too much walking for me; I couldn't get away from the very, VERY persistent and ever present street hawkers fast enough!)

 

In Huatulco, we did La Crucesita & Scenic Tour - quite enjoyable.

 

In Puntarenas, Costa Rica, we did the Pacific Aerial Tram. Very good if you're interested in the environment and rain forest information. A few people saw monkeys, birds, wild boars but don't count on it. Fabulous lush green growth of every description however. This tour also included lunch which was delicious. I did see a toucan that day. Costa Rica was by far the best country to visit. They do not have a military; they have a 96% literacy rate; more than 25% of the country is conservation land; and the people are very friendly. It is beautiful and I would do a land vacation there any time! You'll love it.

 

Also, we saw tons of dolphins and the occassional whale while on this Panama cruise.

[Seacruise]

 

Upon arrival in LA, everyone had to get off the ship, regardless if you had planned on going ashore or not, to clear US customs. This wasted two and a half hours of the day as you could not re-board until everyone had been cleared. [Note, this has NOTHING to do with HAL but is strictly US Customs rules.] This necessitated everyone being booted out of the terminal building into the hot sunshine where you had to queue up and wait and wait. There were no chairs and no refreshments offered. I saw one person collapse from the heat who required medical attention. Also, prior to sail-away they removed another person by stretcher to ambulance (I don’t know if it was the same person).

 

Ahh yes, it is good to see US Customs back to their old tricks of getting everyone off the ship so they can inspect the ship for drugs. This has mainly happened in the past in Seattle/Vancouver and Alaskan ports once the ship has visited Columbia.

 

Nice to see Columbia back on the cruise ship stop but sure is a pain once you return to the USA.

 

Phil

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for your review. Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

 

We have done quite a few repositioning cruises and when we get back to Ft Lauderdale, we also have to get off the ship and go through immigration. We are usually called last. And of course once the ship is cleared, we can get back on board. Sometimes we have waited about 10 - 15 minutes in the terminal and other times it has been over an hour. But we have never had to leave the terminal. Interesting to read that you had to in LA.

 

Your Mariner lunch was conpletely different than the one we had on the Maasdam in March. It sounds just as good as the one we had.

 

We have also had problems with items and shipbaord credit on some of our cruises and it took several days for them to call Seattle and get everything straightened out. HAL does need to improve in this area.

[fcorey]

Thanks for posting your review, a transcanal is something we'd love to do. Once Michelle gets enough vacation time and we get a dog sitter for our three furry children. We're looking forward to our Noordam trip next year. Sounds like you had a great trip :)

[SakeDad]

Richard,

Welcome home and thank you for the wonderful review of the Noordam. I'll be on her this Sunday and can't wait!

I certainly won't order anything else from HAL's website as it seems to be a BIG problem.:mad: Currently I have excursions and one winecard booked. Hopefully that will all be OK.

[RustaRoo]

Richard,

I'll be on her this Sunday and can't wait!

Hi Nathan,

you'll have a wonderful time! Please pop into the piano bar and say hi to Kory (from Rich and Heather); he's from a small town near us and we enjoyed him a great deal while aboard the wonderful ms Noordam!

[mamaofami]

Glad you had such a nice cruise on the Noordam. She really is a beautiful ship.

[sail7seas]

Thanks for the explanation about people being forced to stand in hot sun for hours and not allowed back on the ship.

 

NOTE TO SELF:

[sail7seas]

Thanks for the explanation about why passengers were forced to stand for hours in hot sun and were not allowed back aboard the ship.

 

NOTE TO SELF: Never book any cruise in the future that stops in Columbia. Never much liked the stop in Cartegena anyway......so no big loss to us. I think it terrible to treat people that way to the point that at least one person collapsed.

 

[SakeDad]

Hi Nathan,

you'll have a wonderful time! Please pop into the piano bar and say hi to Kory (from Rich and Heather); he's from a small town near us and we enjoyed him a great deal while aboard the wonderful ms Noordam!

Our CC Meet-n-Greet is the first Sea Day morning in the Paino Bar. I'm sure I'll spend LOTS of time getting to know Kory (being in musical theatre for a living and all;))

Any other fabulous tips before I sail her? Any favorite bartenders or entertainers?

[ElizabethxoNoel]

Thank you so much for posting your review! I'm so glad that you had such a nice vacation on board the Noordam. Welcome Home!

 

=]

Elizabeth

[Love Cruises]

Rustaroo ... We were on the NOORDAM in March of this year. At the Mariners luncheon they had the menu at each place setting in a small picture frame (wallet pic size) that you could keep as a souvenir. Many did not realize it was a picture frame if you peeled off the covering on the glass.

 

Did they have these for you also?

 

We are doing this reverse cruise in September ... really looking forward to going through the Panama Canal again.

[sail7seas]

Did the frames have an HAL /Mariners Logo on them?

 

Sounds like a nice touch to put at each place setting.

 

[e-CJ]

Our CC Meet-n-Greet is the first Sea Day morning in the Paino Bar. I'm sure I'll spend LOTS of time getting to know Kory

 

Unfortunately, Kory's contract is up after the first Alaska cruise that is in progress now. At least that is what I think he was telling us. He really was wonderful and his show in the Queen's Lounge was spectacular, the entertainment highlight of the cruise IMO.

 

I do hope, for your sake, that I heard him wrong when he mentioned when his contract expires.

 

Smiles, CJ

[bepsf]

Rusty--

Glad you had a great time on our Noordam!

Shame HAL can't get their collective act together regarding onboard gifts - you just reminded me that Rev Greg didn't get something I ordered for him on his recent Ryndam cruise, and until now I've forgotten to call HAL to complain...

:cool:

[RustaRoo]

Unfortunately, Kory's contract is up after the first Alaska cruise that is in progress now.

Oh, you're absolutely right - I'd forgotten about that. He told us the same thing, he'll be back in Alberta next weekend. We promised him an Alberta beef BBQ!

[RustaRoo]

Did the frames have an HAL /Mariners Logo on them? Sounds like a nice touch to put at each place setting.

Yes, we had the frames at each place setting too. There was an announcement to please take them as a souvenir of the luncheon. The menu was held in place with small metal copper-coloured clips, one had HAL's logo while the other said 'Noordam'. It was an excellent idea!

[SakeDad]

Unfortunately, Kory's contract is up after the first Alaska cruise that is in progress now.

 

NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO:eek: :eek: :eek: !!!!!!!!!!

Well, I guess all I can do is PRAY:rolleyes: that his replacement is just as fabulous....or you WILL be hearing about it!:cool:

[RustaRoo]

... you just reminded me that Rev Greg didn't get something I ordered for him on his recent Ryndam cruise, and until now I've forgotten to call HAL to complain.

Get on 'em, Brian!

[e-CJ]

Oh, you're absolutely right - I'd forgotten about that. He told us the same thing, he'll be back in Alberta next weekend. We promised him an Alberta beef BBQ!

 

Lucky You!!! Kory is a very nice and talented young man. I would love to have had more time to enjoy his entertaining skills. Please be sure to let us know what his future plans are. Whatever he decides to do, I am sure he will be very successful.

 

Smiles CJ

[RuthC]

Why Sir Richard (notice the slight bow?), I just found your report. You had a delightful time for yourself, didn't you! :)

This was a lovely report to read. (How's the ankle now?) Thank you for all the effort you put in to writing it. Not to mention the research! It must have been fun compiling the data. ;)

Love the "trailer park casual" line; I bet you looked smashing that night.

I'm not sure I like the new Mariner Lunch the way you describe it. I'm used to having lunch later, and don't want that much to eat at mid-day. Did you prefer it to the old Mariner Party?

[RustaRoo]

 

This was a lovely report to read. (How's the ankle now?) Thank you for all the effort you put in to writing it.

Hi Ruth!

Thanks for your note and inquiring about my fractured ankle. It is now 7 weeks since surgery and today is the first day I've walked without the cast - hurrah! It's quite swollen as I write this but I am confident it will go down overnight (it always does). I started my first of 17 physio treatments this morning also. I should be good as new soon and will definitely be in fine dancing form come September for my Alaska cruise:)

 

Yes, actually the Mariner's luncheon was quite nice. I normally don't eat lunch onboard so that particular day I was a regular little piggie; I'm happy to report though that I didn't gain a single ounce the entire trip. I guess using crutches and a cane really does count as exercise! I know it was a lot of work:D Take care, Ruth!