Noordam Review: August 12-19

[purplenorway]

Pre-Cruise

 

We usually book cruises a year in advance, but over July, we checked the HAL website, watching for any openings. It was a bit frustrating to see cabin categories open, close, open again, and close before we could even book one. I will admit to checking almost hourly. Persistence paid off and I found a SS category cabin open up on the Noordam. We snatched up the cruise about 25 days in advance! On August 12, embarkation day, we flew to Seattle. Our taxi ride to the port was only around 10 minutes long since we breezed through the construction. The driver said it will be worse in the coming weeks and the interstate will be closed, so plan accordingly if you will be driving to the port by yourself.

 

Embarkation

 

Check-in at the cruise terminal took about 5 minutes; it probably took longer to walk the long gangway to the ship! It was difficult to find a table in the Lido at lunch. I would suggest trying by the far side of the Lido pool. The dessert man was a mind reader; he knew that I wanted the chocolate cake. The bread pudding was at the end of the main buffet line, by the desserts. I crowned my bowl of that warm goodness with chocolate shavings from the ice cream topping station. Yum.

 

Stateroom

 

Our Superior Verandah Suite 8090 was nice, but I think that because it has a connecting door to the room next door, we were shorted a closet. It was difficult finding places to put three people’s clothing at first. We asked our room steward for more hangers and the problem was solved. I loved having two sinks in the bathroom. There was also a shower-tub combination and another separate shower. Two chairs with footstools and a table with two chairs graced the spacious balcony. It was so nice to see a great view while inside and be able to simply step outside onto the verandah to snap a photo (maybe too many). Our cabin was on Navigation deck, beneath the Lido. In the morning, we could hear people running above us, but otherwise it was quiet.

 

Glacier Bay

 

As we entered Glacier Bay, I stood on the bow for whale watching. Some whales surfaced very close! It was funny to watch everyone rush from starboard to port and back and forth as whales were spotted all around.

 

It was a perfect day and the spectacular views changed by the minute! The glaciers were beautiful, but we only saw some minor calving. No big chunks fell off like I’d wished for. We watched on the Promenade deck towards the aft where it was almost deserted and very quiet so we could hear the cracking sounds of the glacier. Pea soup was served there as well. All the passengers seemed to have the same vocabulary that day as I heard words like wow, beautiful, and gorgeous. One woman said to her husband, “I just want to tell you, this is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen!”

 

Juneau

 

We took the Best of Juneau shore excursion. First, the tour stopped at Mendenhall Glacier. We walked a trail by the creek to watch bright red salmon. Then, a mother black bear and her two cubs appeared! She caught a fish and they ate it in the bushes. One cub walked right below the bridge we were standing on, then went on the trail. We were so close! It was crowded with people, but fantastic! I spent the whole hour there and only took three photos of the glacier.

 

Next, we went whale watching. The catamaran was very nice. Comfortable seats inside and viewing platforms on the top decks. We saw seals and humpback whales. The Captain took us close to an eagle perched on a tree and its nest nearby where two eaglets were sitting.

 

The last stop on the excursion was the Salmon Bake. I am not a fish person, but I had to try the salmon and actually it was my favorite thing because it tasted like chicken. I also liked the cornbread. The other food was just okay. There was a trail along the creek and a waterfall at the end.

 

We got back in town and did some shopping. I enjoyed The Alaska Shirt Store. Then, we went up the Mt. Roberts Tram to hike the trails where we where attacked by flies. The view was nice and you can see a captive bald eagle. When we were back by the ship a wild eagle was on top of an archway on a dock. We were able to get close to it.

 

Sitka

 

It was another sunny day, a bit hot! Some seals or otters surfaced during the long tender ride. We shopped and walked around. We went to a lookout point and took photos in an interesting cemetery set in the woods.

 

Ketchikan

 

It rained and the sun came out briefly. We walked around Creek Street and did some shopping. I liked Mai’s Gifts where a sweet lady sold me a cheap, beautiful shell pendent necklace that she hand painted. We also went crazy buying cheap t-shirts in the other shops. There is a building directly across from the pier, offering Internet access. I asked for the price; it is $6 for a card that can be used in other ports such as Juneau (it was too late for me since we had already stopped there). Instead, I got a strong wireless signal back in our stateroom and bought one hour online for $5.

 

After our short stop in Ketchikan, we sat at a lovely table next to the aft window in the dining room. We watched the Ryndam come in and practically push us out because we were late and she needed our spot. I had a difficult time getting ready for formal night because there were so many whales out! There were spouts everywhere I looked! I would turn to go back inside, only to see a whale’s reflection in the verandah door. Then, a whale surfaced about 20 feet from the ship! It made the most glorious “snort” sound you have ever heard! That was five times better than the whale watching tour we took in Juneau! I went to an interesting question and answer session with the Captain; he said they put the stabilizers in whenever they see whales. Good thing.

 

Victoria

 

We took a shuttle bus (blue and silver bus, $6 roundtrip) from the cruise pier to downtown Victoria. The city had beautiful lights. Some stores were open there and one shop was open at the cruise terminal. It was really chilly at the pier, but warmer downtown.

 

Seattle

 

Disembarkation began at 7:45. We booked the best of Seattle tour and met in the Vista Lounge. Our group was yellow 2 and got off at 8:45. We didn’t need to claim our luggage; it was brought to the airport for us (we never saw if until we were back home). Our bus driver was extremely energetic while we were all sleepy. First, the tour stopped at the Space Needle. It was rainy and cloudy, so we couldn’t see very far. Then, we visited the Pike Market. I loved watching the fish throwing and looking at all the flowers and fruits. We bought a dozen mini assorted donuts. They were hot and the guy literally threw them into a bag. We got to the airport at 12:45 and our flight left after 2:00. The tour was much better than sitting at the airport all day!

 

Dining

 

We had traditional, fixed seating dinner at 7:45 on the lower level of the Vista Dining Room. At table 191, there was room for six people with three chairs and a couch. Our fantastic waiters were Utju and Andie. All of the upper level of the dining room was traditional seating, the inner ring near the stairs on the lower level was traditional, and the lower level outside ring by the windows was open sitting. Sometimes, the line looked long for open seating reservations, but I heard that it moved quickly. I noticed some people in the open seating section who sat at the same table every night; so don’t be afraid to request a table that you like.

 

Some of my favorite dishes I had in the dining room and Lido were Kansas City steak soup, turkey, ginger grilled chicken with peaches, hazelnut crusted brie, Swiss-Style Muesli, Belgian Waffles, bread pudding, macaroni and cheese appetizer, and Beef Wellington. I thought the fruit on board was of very good. Try ordering the fruit platter as dessert or along with your dessert (it was beautiful!). Delicious French onion soup is offered in the dining room every night.

 

I always brought my camera along to dinner, because the sunset happened while we were eating. All I had to do was walk upstairs to the outside Promenade and I could take pictures to my heart’s content. If I was gone a long time, my food was kept warm for me until I returned from my photo shoot.

 

At Your Service

 

The crew was so friendly and willing to please. At some land restaurants, it feels like a bother to ask a staff member to bring you something, on the Noordam, it seemed like it made them happy to bring whatever I asked for. What follows are some instances of crew members who went above and beyond.

 

On the elevator one day, a server from the Pinnacle Grill, who was on her way to the Neptune Lounge, came on with trays of pastries and chocolates. She let everyone in the elevator sample a chocolate. It’s the little things like that that make you feel special.

 

I need to mention how helpful the Internet Manager, Rodin was. My online Picasa account would not load my photos for some reason. He spent a long time trying to make it work, but couldn’t. So, he shrunk the photos in his computer program for me so that I could attach them to my “live” Cruise Critic thread. He even gave me back the minutes that had been spent in vain. There was no reason why he needed to help that much; it was very nice.

 

The Chocolate Extravaganza was alright. Most of the desserts were cakes or items that I normally had at afternoon tea anyway. I asked for a piece of the chocolate decoration from a cake instead. The chef gave me a huge chunk of it; awesome. No water was available by the pool setting, so I went to the Lido to get some. Our assistant dining room steward, Andie was working the extravaganza, and asked what I needed. He brought six waters over for the three of us. Also, we were looking forward to some chocolate covered strawberries from the chocolate fountain, but people kept cutting in the line, so we gave up. When Andie saw that we didn’t have any on our plates, he went and got some for us. Talk about being at your service!

 

Entertainment

 

I thoroughly enjoyed all of the shows I attended; Elton John impersonator Joel Mason, Olympic Gymnast Lance Ringnald, Magician Jason Latimer and the production shows, “If These Walls Could Rock” and “That’s Vegas”.

 

The movies in the theater seemed to be played on TV the next day. So if you miss it or can’t stay to finish, you can catch it later. I was watching Shrek in the cabin when suddenly; I saw a huge splash from a whale! It was great. Some of the movies on board were: Spiderman 3, Shrek the Third, Blades of Glory, Disturbia, Next, Lucky You, and The Hoax. You can also rent movies from the library.

 

There was an Indonesian tea ceremony, a towel animal folding demonstration, dancing lessons, and a galley tour. You can collect dam dollars for the sport activities and redeem them for prizes. A daily quiz and trivia games were offered; you can also get dam dollars this way for wining.

 

Miscellaneous

 

Most people were dressed up for formal night, but there were a few in hooded sweatshirts and even shorts (brrr!). I would suggest wearing layers in the ports. If you will be on tour on boat, wear a windbreaker and maybe take some gloves. For walking around, a zipped sweatshirt or jacket is nice. Clothing with lots of pockets is handy for carrying items like a camera or ID.

 

I brought my laptop along and purchased an Internet plan. I typed my “live” Cruise Critic posts in Word and copied it to a CC reply, saving a lot of minutes. I liked taking my computer to the Explorations Café and sitting in a comfy chair. Other Internet hotspots were available throughout the ship. I was so glad I had my laptop to load photos on every once and awhile! It freed up my memory card and I ended up with over a thousand photos!

 

There was a low turnout for the Mariner’s Reception. Captain Hans Mateboer spoke briefly and no one received their medallions this cruise, so it was a short reception.

 

The ship is gorgeous! Even the elevators are gorgeous! Some have art deco doors while others are glass. I loved the fresh flower arrangements. Every table in the Lido has an orchid. The glass staircase in the atrium is very cool, but it is a bit deceiving to walk it since you can see through. For safety reasons, they close it off when the ship is sailing. Artwork is everywhere. Be sure to look at the interesting chairs and sculptures by the glass elevators and the paintings on the stairwells.

 

Conclusion

 

We had spectacular weather and saw so much wildlife! The Noordam was beautiful and the service was fantastic. It was a truly memorable cruise, and I cannot wait for my next sailing with Holland America Line!

[welove2cruise232]

purplenorway: thanks for your review as well as your live posts -- I really enjoyed them! We are really looking foward to our Noordam cruise on 10/31, and your review just adds to the excitement!

[RuthC]

Thank you for such a thorough report. Glad you had such a great time.

Yes, isn't Rodin a big help in the Internet Center? :) I've had the pleasure of tapping his expertise on a couple of cruises now.

So, where to next? :D

[hunzabunz]

Purplenorway,

 

So glad you had a good time! We're on this 9/23 and are really happy to hear about Joel Mason. This will be our 3rd time seeing him. He's been on our last 2 cruises (Oosterdam 12/06 and Zuiderdam 03/06). Did they have an American Idol type competition at all?

 

Thanks,

Nan

[purplenorway]

welove2cruise, I'm glad you enjoyed the review and live reports! I think you will love your time on the Noordam!

 

Ruth, Yup, Rodin was really helpful! Next we are off to the Westerdam. It is still a ways off yet. Hopefully the time will go by quickly.

 

Hunzabunz, Joel Mason is great! This was our 2nd time seeing him. Love those crazy outfits. Especially the shoes! There was indeed a singing competition, Noordam Superstar. Best of luck to you if you enter!

[JTL1997]

Purplenorway - thanks this will be helpful for our sept. 2nd cruise on Noordam

[hunzabunz]

Thanks purplenorway, it's my husband who does the singing. He played in a band when I met him and the standing joke with him is "No Lucy you can't be in the show!"

[tapdancemom]

Thanks for your review. Very descriptive and easy to read. Your pictures were awesome.

I'll be going on the Noordam on Sunday and I can't wait, thanks for the preview.

[JoKen1]

Wonderful review. Thanks for posting. Can you tell me if they allowed smoking in the Casino? I've heard they do sometimes and other times they don't. But since you just went I think you would know what they are doing now. That is if you stopped in there.

 

I'm leaving on 9/2 and can't wait! Thanks to your reports I'm even more excited.

[purplenorway]

JoKen1, smoking was allowed in the Casino. We walked through it several times after the shows let out, but I smelled the smoke mostly from the Sports Bar next to the casino instead.

 

Those of you who are going to the Noordam soon, keep looking forward to it. It is definitely worth the excitement! I hope to hear all about it when you get back!

[kaamrya]

Becky-

I just read your "Live" thread and this one. I was on the same cruise along with my parents, two sisters, sister's boyfriend and my 5-yr old daughter. You did a great job reviewing. I don't know how you had time to do a live review and get to all the events onboard plus excursions. I love your photos. I finally loaded mine last night and I have to say we were soooo lucky with the weather. It was absolutely beautiful. Look at photo #4 in your album - the aft pool leaving Seattle. I am walking near the outdoor shower with red backpack, my daughter is (illegally) swimming in the pool, and my sister is along the railing on left (khaki capris, sunglasses, blonde hair, backpack?- I don't know what that is behind her). I found the sign that said "Aft pool for adults only" after my daughter's swim so that was her one and only time in that pool.

 

I am so jealous you saw bears in Juneau. We had the best day in Juneau also. My dad is fairly handicapped so I planned out the stop well. We got him off in a push wheelchair and then went up the Mt. Roberts tram. He sat in the observation area while we did the hike. We had a nice lunch outside at the Twisted Fish (right on the pier near the nose of the Noordam) and then we went on an independent whale watching trip with Orca Enterprises. I booked this boat trip ahead of time because they get great reviews, it is a much smaller boat and they are ADA compliant and will help someone in a wheelchair. Unbeknownst to us is the fact that Dirk (our great Noordam naturalist) also moonlights on these trips as the main speaker/naturalist while he's in Juneau. (Julie, the Noordam comedian, and her mom were also on our trip). We had about 20 people on the tour and Dirk said it was one of the best whale watching trips he's ever been on - as far as seeing humpback bubble-net feeding. We sat in one spot for 1.5 hours and watched a group of 7-8 whales bubble-net feed over and over again. There was even a baby whale swimming around who wasn't allowed in the main feeding group. It was so much fun waiting and watching to see where they were going to come up next.

 

I am going to post my own thread with some advice on as-you-wish dining and cruising with a wheelchair/scooter as soon as I can. I'll post some photos as well so you can compare. I have to say, you did a great job at photographing the details of the ship. I love taking pictures but I did not even think of taking all the types of photos that you did. I mostly concentrated on the scenery and my family.

 

Time to get back to the real world - I've been in a jet-lagged daze all week.

 

Amy

[purplenorway]

Amy, That is too funny that you and your family are in one of my photos! You may be jealous of the bears, but I'm so jealous you saw the whales bubble-net feeding! I was really hoping to see that. I can't wait to read your thread and see your photos! Isn't it hard to come back to reality?

[JoKen1]

What is bubble net feeding?

[kaamrya]

Don't quote me.....Bubble-net feeding is when there is a group of whales (in our case there were about 7 or 8) that are all eating fish together. One whale traps the fish while the others wait. This one whale will swim in circles, twisting his body all the while blowing bubbles. He creates a bubble net that confuses and traps the fish. Us humans up on the boat can't see this going on, which is fun because all of a sudden you see bubbles start to rise in a very concentrated circular area. When the time is right the whales communicate with each other and then they all swim at the bubble net and eat the fish. When this happens we get to see all of the whale bodies rising out of the water as they come up and go down eating the fish. It's hard to tell what part of the whale you are seeing because their bodies are all on top of each other - yet they are all very coordinated. Dirk said the baby whale that we saw on the fringes of the group will not be allowed to join the adult feeding group until it's a couple of years old because it's not coordinated enough yet. When you think of "whale watching" it's not whales shooting out of the water and rolling their bodies and crashing back down it's more of a big mass of bodies half coming out of the water and going back down and coming up again until the fish are gone. Then they disappear under the water until the next bubble net is created. I'm now wondering if the same whale does all the work of making the net or if they take turns? Looking at my photos, if I blow them up I can make out some of the whale's heads with their mouths open. When I post photos I will put some of those in.

 

Amy

[hunzabunz]

Amy,

 

What was the comedians full name?

 

Thanks,

Nan

[kaamrya]

Julie Barr. She did an all-ages show the first night and an adult show later in the week. Unfortunately I didn't make either but my sister, who only went to the adult one, said the show was hysterical.

[hunzabunz]

Thanks Amy

 

That's what I was hoping. I think her and Joel Mason must travel together. This is going to make it really fun for us.

 

Nan

[barbon2]

Guess the entertainment will be a "bust" for us next week on the Noordam. We saw both Joel Mason, amateurish perfomance and Julie Barr, a few chuckles and lots of z'sssss on the Oosterdam in Dec. I guess I do not have any prospective entertainment to look forward to on the Noordam next week unless by some miracle they are not on. Did not see the gymnast or the other entertainer, however we did enjoy the HAL singers and dancers. It is just disappointing to me to see the same acts within a 9 month cruise period. I guess HAL just recycles The Elton John Guy and this comedian from ship to ship. Oh well...just will make the best of it.

Barbara

[lakemurraykid]

Hi ya'll,

 

We were on the Noordam in May '07 from Seattle to Alaska. First, let me say that the SS cabin we had was great. Personally, I think they are worth the extra $$$. Our cabin steward was great. In fact, all of the staff were very friendly and outgoing and wanting to take care of our every need. One complaint is that there are no laundry facilities on the ship. However, we stuffed everything we could in a bag and had our laundry done for $12. We were told it would take two days; however, it was back the next day.

 

As for the food: that's another story. We felt there wasn't much of a variety on the menus in the main dining room. We didn't care for the presentation or how it tasted. The wine steward was very slow and in some cases didn't bring our wine until midway through our meal. I don't know if this is a result of being new, shorthanded (not enough staff) or what. We ate dinner in the Pinnacle Grille one evening and it was good, but not worth $30. The creme brulee was excellent! We ate dinner on the Lida a couple of night and had some of the best prime rib I have ever eaten as well as their filet. We never ate breakfast or lunch in the dining room. We always did that on the Lido.

 

All in all, the cruise itself was great and I'd really like to go back and do it again. The ship was beautiful and just the right size. It didn't take us long to find our way around. But as for the food -- definitely not great and not what I expected.