Noordam 8/5-8/12/07

[Boomer51]

We just docked in Seattle this morning! (Myself, my husband, our two adult daughters, their husbands and our two year old grandson. We are in our early 50's, they are in their mid to late twenties) First of all, we would like to say we had a fantastice time in Alaska and on board the Noordam. That said, we have to agree with other reviews on various boards about the Noordam. Holland America made a wrong turn with the design! The grandure in architecture we've come to expect from cruising was absent. The public rooms were small, the passages from those areas narrow and the "wow factor" of the decorating throughout the ship was not there. Expecially frustrating was the passage through the Lido deck. Even during "uncrowded" times, I found it difficult to navigate through that area. I believe this is totally due to the design. That being said, the dinining crew in Lido were ever gracious, helpful and getting your meal was quick. We seldom had problems finding a seat (just getting to your seat was often a practice in patience).

 

OK, onto positives. Our rooms exceeded our expectations! We had a standard balcony on the fifth floor and our children had inside rooms on the first floor. We were very pleased with the amount of space we had and our cabin stewards were excellent. Breakfast room service was right at the time requested and one we repeated this several days to avoid the hastle of Lido. Room service food was very good and they even gave us items that weren't on the standard menu when we wrote them in. Food in the Vista was excellent, we were able to order as much as we wanted and our waiter, DeDan, was very accomodating of our 2 year old grandson. Our wine steward was a sweet young lady and very attentive.

 

If you are thinking about booking the Pinnacle room, I would skip that. Our TA gave us all lunch there. While the food was certainly a cut above what we received in the Vista dining room, the service wasn't anything special. Perhaps our experience was not of the ordinary, but we sat for 90 minutes and still hadn't seen our main course. We arrived promptly at our reservation time, but we still watched other tables who arrived after us receive starters, main course, dessert and leave. When we mentioned it to our wait staff, we all agreed they were "short" with us and made us feel almost crass for even daring to complain. It was a low point of the trip, for sure.

 

High points: viewing the glacier, the helicopter ride and getting out on the glacier, crow's nest, our balcony, beautiful weather, seeing the salmon jump non-stop in Sitka, our daughter & husband seeing a bear (too close!) catch a salmon while they were walking the paths around Mendenhal Glacier park in Juneau, spending time with family, reading in the library while watching the ocean and beautiful scenery,.....on and on!

[JoKen1]

How fun your trip sounds. I'm going to be going on the 2nd of Sept and can't wait! Thanks for the tips and hints.

 

I too am going on the helicopter trip and walking on the Glacier. Was it really cold? Just wondering what to wear.

 

So the weather was nice? No rain?

 

This might be a silly question and you may not even know but what movies did they show?

 

Also, when you play bingo do you know what the cost was? Did you see any food demos?

 

I'm so excited to go and thrilled someone just came home that can fill me in.

 

Joanne

[tvo7]

Hello I was on the same trip with you. I have my opinions on my other post. I didn't see many people use the Pinnacle dining room. I was at Mendenhall also, did you see the bear at the pathway where the buses drop you off?

[jtl513]

Also, when you play bingo do you know what the cost was?

It is $10 for one set of cards for the 5 games, $20 for three sets. Cash or on your account.

[hammybee]

Thank you for sharing your perspective. The PG experience is consistently inconsistent, especially on the Noordam.

[mamaofami]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise and your experiences in Alaska, but I have to disagree with you. I loved everything about the architecture of the Noordam, how it was decorated, the public rooms, and didn't experience any difficulties navigating the Lido. I do agree that the experience in the Pinnacle is not consistent, but I will try it again this February.:)

[jtl513]

I do agree that the experience in the Pinnacle is not consistent, but I will try it again this February.:)

I think some of that inconsistency depends on what other people are in the room. On the Westerdam our service started out pretty well, until another couple came in who were apparently 'regulars'. Suddenly we were totally forgotten - no water or bread refills, no "how is everything" visits, looooong waits between courses, food cold when it finally came, etc. If we were lucky we could catch our waiter's attention as he was on his way to or from the other couple's table.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad that you had a wonderful Alaskan cruise.

[Boomer51]

I think some of that inconsistency depends on what other people are in the room. On the Westerdam our service started out pretty well, until another couple came in who were apparently 'regulars'. Suddenly we were totally forgotten - no water or bread refills, no "how is everything" visits, looooong waits between courses, food cold when it finally came, etc. If we were lucky we could catch our waiter's attention as he was on his way to or from the other couple's table.

I wonder if that's what happened to us. Anyway, unless you are a real food critic, I would use your time elsewhere.

[Boomer51]

How fun your trip sounds. I'm going to be going on the 2nd of Sept and can't wait! Thanks for the tips and hints.

 

I too am going on the helicopter trip and walking on the Glacier. Was it really cold? Just wondering what to wear.

 

So the weather was nice? No rain?

 

This might be a silly question and you may not even know but what movies did they show?

 

Also, when you play bingo do you know what the cost was? Did you see any food demos?

 

I'm so excited to go and thrilled someone just came home that can fill me in.

 

Joanne

 

 

 

Don't worry about clothing, dress for the weather when you get off the ship. They have "gripper" boots and jackets for you. Unless you've booked an extended walk, you are not actually on the glacier very long. I thought this would be disappointing, but it really is not a safe environment for inexperienced people, so I was happy with the time we had. We didn't need their jackets as the weather was beautiful! If you are worried, tuck a pair of gloves and hat into your pocket. Since you are in limited space in the helicopter they will ask you to leave all extra items in their building. I am not a cold weather gal and I can say this was an experience I will never forget!

 

We didn't play bingo, but someone else answered that below. Sorry, we didn't do the movies, but my daughter did one. She had to leave because she got a little queezy. I do know they are movies that aren't out in video yet, but they play a variety on your TV that are out in video. They also have an extensive movie library for checkout.

 

OH - wine and soda cards! (You didn't ask, but here it is!) They offer these for purchase right as you are getting on, then again the first couple days on the ship. I'm sure they are available the entire trip, but they stopped asking us about two days in. We jumped on the wine card and the soda card, and we thought it nice we could all share it. One problem - my daughter who carried the soda card was never to be found when I wanted a soda! We ended up purchasing much of my soda and not using the entire card. Since we like wine with our meal, the wine card worked out well because we were all together at that time. However, the wine card is for house only and if you are into fine wines, it is not for you! I believe it was around $62 for 20 glasses of wine. The soda card was around $18 for 20 pops. I'm sorry I'm not more specific. Maybe someone else will have the exact price. We did not do the cocktail card.

[Boomer51]

Hello I was on the same trip with you. I have my opinions on my other post. I didn't see many people use the Pinnacle dining room. I was at Mendenhall also, did you see the bear at the pathway where the buses drop you off?

 

 

We weren't with my daughter and husband, but they said there were a lot of people around them at the time. She said one lady got so excited she actually picked my daughter up and moved her out of the way! (My daughter is petite.)

[Boomer51]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise and your experiences in Alaska, but I have to disagree with you. I loved everything about the architecture of the Noordam, how it was decorated, the public rooms, and didn't experience any difficulties navigating the Lido. I do agree that the experience in the Pinnacle is not consistent, but I will try it again this February.:)

 

 

I see you've been on a lot of HL ships, so you do have a frame of reference. We did see other posts in the review section mention this and we agree. We were on the Amsterdam 5 years ago and before that two RCL and one Norwegian. HL by far is our favorite - room size, quality, general atmosphere. For our next trip, we will need to decide if the balcony for a standard outside room price is more important than the overeall ship. Of course, 5 years may have dimmed our memory of what the Amsterdam was like!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Welcome Home, it does sound like over all you had a good cruise to Alaska. I think Interior design is very much an individual opinion in taste just as food is. While I think ships that have big beautiful atriums and look like Las Vegas are nice I do like the cozyness of intimate lounges that HAL offers. To me they feel like a ship not a casino/resort that I have plenty to see at home. But of course that is just my opinion. I found the Noordam to be very beautiful. I appreciate you giving your review it is always good hearing different opinions.

How exciting to hear you saw bears up close, While I do not want a close encounter with a bear I am hoping to see some from a distance on my return:)

[mamaofami]

Speaking of bears up close and personal, last summer while in the Tanglewood section of the Berkshire Mountains, we were waiting to cross a very busy route 7 so we could head into our timeshare across the road. Well, looked left and then right, and then left again becuase there was this giant black bear crossing route 7. Quickly called the police, because this is a very populated resort and vacation area, and the bear had been spotted earlier in the town of Lenox. Now, my DH who loved to walk along route 7 and into the town of great Barington will no longer take those walks. Another of our friends saw one in Otis, Ma as she was returning from the beach. At first, she thought it was a dog but when it reared up on its hind legs, she was freaked!:eek:

[tvo7]

boomer51: DId you play any of the casino games? I saw the face up blackjack and I was very tempted, but they had some strange rules with that game. Did you like the 2nd muscial show the dancers performed?