Westerdam Dec. 16-23 Review with Photos and Bonus Air Travel Tale

[djhsolara]

Becky: Thanks for your review and for arranging everything that you did on the sailing (especially the detailed tour of the galley). It was a pleasure meeting you and everyone else from here.

 

BTW...I'm sure it was because of us that you received the call from the front office regarding the invitations. We made sure that they knew that we didn't receive it in time for the event.

 

We had a little problem coming home but not nearly as bad as some that I've heard. Leaving Ft Lauderdale we were about an hour late which put us with about 10 minutes to run from pier B to pier C in Charlotte. With this in mind, we knew that our luggage would not be in Harrisburg when we arrived...because we ran and were the last ones on the connecting plane so there would be no way that our luggage would make it. Our luggage was delivered to us the following day...however one of the bags were missing three of our purchases from St Thomas. It is very disappointing because they were things that we could not buy here...so we're going to be working with HAL and the airline on that. All that we know is that these items were in the bag when it was last in our possession in our cabin.

 

Anyhow, a rather upsetting end to the travels certainly did not ruin our trip. We met some wonderful and very fun people on this sailing. We probably talked with more people during the first day of this sailing than we did on the entire sailing last year. We will be posting a review later as there are some things that we want to say about this sailing as compared to our sailing last year on the Westerdam.

 

Thanks again...and have a wonderful new years!!

 

I hope everyone enjoyed their Hershey treats!!!!:) :)

[Copper10-8]

Becky, great review and awesome pics!!:)

[hrhdhd]

I hope everyone enjoyed their Hershey treats!!!!:) :)

 

Yes, we did--thanks for those dark chocolate kisses! I don't like milk chocolate, so the pillow chocolates tend to pile up (sorry, Ruth!), but I ate my dark kisses very quickly!

 

Becky, thanks from us as well for all the coordinating and the fun events.

 

We enjoyed our 12/16 Westerdam cruise tremendously with the exception of our lackluster steward--we had to ask for EVERYTHING (tiles, tote bag, breakfast card, towels, etc). First time we have really dinged the steward on the comment card--which also arrived too late for us to enter the drawing. Oh, well, overall we had a great time.

[Golfette]

Becky, enjoyed your review immensely. Thank you!

 

We just returned from cruising on the Oosterdam, aft corner deluxe veranda #6158. I also was absolutely awed at the size of the veranda - even though I had seen pictures beforehand, it looked much larger "in person."

 

The Oosterdam has not yet had the aft retrofit I understand it is going to have. I believe the Westerdam has? The main part of your veranda looked a bit less deep than ours. Do you or anyone know what changes the aft corner deluxe verandas on the Oosterdam will incur from the retrofit?

 

As to the water - our veranda had an automatic sprinkler type system that went on at some point during the night. It usually dried by mid-morning. Doesn't sound like what you had.

[purplenorway]

djhsolara, I'm glad you told them about the late invitations. They needed to know and I hope they figured out what happened. Thanks so much for the dark chocolate! I was very excited that my stocking was filled this year! I added our excess pillow chocolates to it, but it actually fell off the door from the weight of all the goodies inside! I'll be looking for your review!

 

Thank you Copper!

 

hrhdhd, great that you could come to the events! Nice cruising with you!

 

Golfette, Westerdam already had the aft lift. Oosterdam will probably get new blocks of cabins added to the back. Maybe those verandahs will be a bit smaller than the original ones. I don't think we had auto sprinklers. The water just seemed to gather on the floor.

[sail7seas]

Thanks so much for your great review. It was so enjoyable to read. So sorry for all your travel problems...... I shivered at the thought of all those airport/airplane upsets. :(

 

Welcome Back and thanks again for a wonderful review.

[Seago2]

Felt like I was right there with ya. The food sounded great.

 

How does Explorations in the Crow's Nest feel to you? It's in an awkward place on Noordam and I heard they were moving it to the Crow's Nest by last summer... but I haven't heard any reports.

[alonzo14]

tsd1: No, we personally did not mind it being covered. Due to a tropical storm we had two days of wind. I found that we could still go out on our balcony even on those days. Some people said thaey could not sit on their balconies because on the sea spray. We did experience some but not enough to keep us from using our balcony. We did have some sun occasionally. You will love this suite!!!!!! if Uman pronounced ( Ume ) is your steward tell him Hello from Jerry & Nedra from the December 9th cruise. He is a great steward.

 

Golfette: The balconies on decks 4 & 5 remained the same after the retrofit. Decks 6-8 are less deep. Deck 5 staterooms are the largest of all the aft suites.

 

Yes I thought it was strange walking out on the balcony for the first time and finding standing water over half the balcony. It never stayed though and was'nt a problem. Our balcony was never mostly covered anyway because it was deeper than others.

 

djhsolara: Yes we found very friendly people on our cruise too and very well behaved.

[purplenorway]

Glad you enjoyed the review, Sail!

 

Carla, I liked the Explorations Cafe in the Crow's Nest. The bookcases are by the windows and sort of make partitions, so it felt more intimate than the one on Noordam. I pulled a big comfy chair closer to the window and put my feet up on the ledge. The view was awesome! There is no promenade deck blocking the view like on the Noordam.

[teachergal29]

Becky, I really enjoyed your review. We were on the Nov. 25th cruise on the Westerdam to the W. Carib. We were in 7142 aft port corner, but did not experience any standing water on our veranda at all. Not sure what that was on yours. This was our first aft cabin ever and now we are hooked!! We have another booked on the Oosterdam (pre-retrofit) cabin 5186 in April, just to see what the difference is to what they cut off the depth of the veranda.

Glad you had a great cruise!!

Pam

[hemingway7]

We were on the same cruise as Becky and her family and since she wrote a very detailed report, I will expand on a few things that overlap and mentions others that are different.

We were in a suite which was two doors away from the Neptune lounge so it was real easy to go and take advantage of that area. I could always jet a fresh orange juice or what ever was put out for snacks, which were all high quality. The women in the lounge also were very good at requests. Anything I wanted, I just had to call or visit them and it was done. The cabin was really great. Those 520 sq feet really make a difference. It also means your balcony is twice as large as regular balcony rooms. Our cabin steward was also great. Our cabin was in the middle of the ship and we felt almost no movement the entire trip. Our kids were more forward and felt just a little. I guess with Becky's room at the very back they felt some as well.

 

I also want to thank Becky for all her efforts in starting our roll call thread and all the events we were invited to on the cruise because of her work. Also thanks to Stan for his help as well with the cabin list and other areas. Between the invites we had because of our suite and the CC event invites, it seemed like we were seeing the captain and other officers at least once a day. I had a spa appointment and could not make the sail away party in Becky's stateroom but my wife and son attended. It was very thoughtful for your family to hold that event.

My daughter and I went on the galley tour and found it very interesting. We went often to the Crows Nest including the VIP party Becky was able to get the CC members invited to. We really enjoyed being in that area coming in or out of ports. It was a great view. HAL really did go the extra mile for our group.

 

FOOD

The food quality was better than I expected and I rate it high. The Vista dining room had good choices most nights and our waiters Tedi and Wendi were great to work with. They learned our preferences and had drinks waiting after each night. The service was very smooth as well. The portions were about right for us. On the rare occasion we did not like something, a prompt replacement was brought right away. When we asked for extra lobster, they brought some to all of us.

The Pinnacle Grill was a different story. It is a beautiful room whether you are just a couple or with a bigger group. However, the wait staff was difficult, rude, not helpful and made the evening not pleasant. If you dine there be all means get one of the prime, aged steaks. They are excellent.

The rest of the food is no better than what is in the Vista dining room. There were four of us and the extra $150 we paid was not worth it. Several other passengers I spoke to also agreed about the service and food there.

They said it was a major down grade from upscale rooms on other ships.

If they can fix the service and upgrade the menu there, it would be a great place.

The food on the Lido was very good and we ate a one breakfast and a couple of lunch's there. There was variety each day and those that do not want a dining room experience would not be disappointed. We enjoyed the lunch in the dining room and tried to eat there when we could. We did room service for breakfast since we had the nice balcony and they could bring any request you wanted. We also had a standing order of hot and cold appitzers brought to our room at 6pm each evening at no extra charge.

I agree with Becky on the barbecue meal and desert bash on the lido deck. My wife and son tried the barbecue and they ran out of ribs in the first 30 minutes and they never were replaced. My daughter and I did not like that scene and ate in the dining room. We also went up to look at the deserts after the show and all the good things were gone. The lines were very long for both events but when you have around 2,000 guests on the ship it was not too bad. If I am giving a grade here it would be A- when you consider the entire week.

 

Entertainment

 

Most people thought it was very good for "cruise ship" entertainment. We did see the comic Philadelphia twice and he was very funny. The singers and dancers were pretty good. The first magic show by Leo Ward was excellent. The last night he and Howard Hill were pretty lame. Hill can really play the piano but he is so cheesy it just ruins it all. His story telling and relating to the audience sets a new standard for cheesy. If he would stick one of those animal towels in his mouth and just shut up and play, it would go a lot better for him.

My wife and I liked the jazz band and also the string combo. My 20 year old daughter loved the sing along piano bar. My 25 year old son hung out in the sports bar and northern lights disco till all hours of the night. I am glad the kids had their own cabin. There is more to do than you have time for.

 

Ports

I wanted to be a beach bum that week and the weather cooperated. No rain and all sun was what happened when we were ashore. I love clear blue or green water and white sand beaches. At Grand Turk it was clear water that was more green than blue and the sand very white. The water was warmer her than other places. We stayed at the beach by the ship and has a good time. There are some scattered rocks in the water that was the only complaint by my daughter.

The sail through the Drake channel before arriving at Tortola was a visual delight. We took the $6 taxi to Cane Garden and enjoyed the beach. There is a great view there and food and drink at reasonable prices. Chairs were $5 each. The small batch rum shack at the west end of the beach was worth going to and bottles were only $15 each. Wish we had more time to spend here. We had been to the Baths before so did not go this time. It would be a tough choice between Cane Garden and the Baths if we had not been before.

At St. Thomas my son went to Megans beach with some friends, my wife went shopping and my daughter and I did the sail boat races. They put you against three other 45 foot sailboats in a competive race. There were only five guests and two crew members per boat and this $89 excursion was a good one.

Half Moon had a perfect beach. Clear blue water and a very white sand beach over a mile long which was perfect for walking. Unless shade is important I don't think the cabana is worth the extra money. There is plenty of shade in the dining and shopping areas if you want to get out of it. We were fine with chairs in the sun. I also wanted to point out the clam shells are in the back of the beach area and the other rows of chairs are in front of the and can block your view on the beach and water if that is important. There were two ships in port that day and it was easy to find chairs before 11am. After that you had to walk further down the beach. This port was a lot of fun.

SPA

The other area I wanted to comment on was the Spa area. The workout area was large and had modern equipment. One thing we did book was a couple package for the thermal suite and hydro pool. We bought it on Sunday for $190 a couple, which was a savings. We did like the thermal suite and the hydro pool but staffing in both places was poor. In the hydro area they had water and juice put out. Most days there were tons of used towels not picked up by attendants. It was tough to know if any chair was available because of this. One day I counted 21 empty glasses around the beverage area. It just needs some staff oversight. Also every afternoon, people were taking advantage of the thermal suites. There are seven beds there and on an average five of them were being used by people taking two

hour naps. When people are waiting there is a 20 minute limit. So that limited opportunities for everyone. Because of those issues, I would not book it again.

 

WINE/Champagne: I stopped at Costco and brought a case of 12 bottles on champagne/wine. These were all modest priced wines with Wine Spectator ratings of 90 or above. There was no problem in dropping this off with luggage and having it sent to our room. We enjoyed this affordable way to drink high quality wines in our room and at dinner.

 

Conclusion: I know I have picked out the warts to show some of the things that could be improved on but I will still give this cruise an A rating. The SA suite sure spoils you. We had booked an SZ guarantee and ended up getting upgraded to an SA for $400. I was so impressed by HAL that our next cruise will be with them. We are thinking of going to the Mediterranean next. We enjoyed meeting the other CC members. I encourage future cruisers to participate in your roll calls and any events on your ship.

[Seago2]

Isn't the Drake Channel the most beautiful place on Earth?

 

Thanks for the memory...

[purplenorway]

teachergal29, I think I may be hooked on the aft verandahs as well! Did you have any rain during your sailing? I wonder if that may be the reason for the verandah water.

 

Great review hemingway7! I enjoyed seeing you and your family around the ship!

 

I'll agree with you on the Pinnacle staff. We went there a couple times for breakfast and there was one server especially who seemed to feel we were inconveniencing him just by being there. The dining room and Lido staff were wonderful though! Much more friendly and happy!

[purplenorway]

We just booked a corner aft suite for Eurodam on December 13! I am so excited! Any CC members care to join this sailing? :D

[ekerr19]

Becky -

 

Thanks for the great review! I wish we'd have been on your sailing. Perhaps next time. Sounds like the Aft Suite is a much better place to host a party! I'll have to remember that... :)

 

thanks again for the review and great pics!

[purplenorway]

Thanks Laura! Maybe you will love Eurodam so much that you can just go again on December 13. Then we can sail together again!

[retiredldo]

Becky outstanding review 2 questions what time was the life boat drill and who did you contact about the cruise critic get together for the Cruise Critic meet and Greet we are on the smooth jazz cruise in a couple of weeks on this ship and last year on the Westerdam there was a meet and greet so I am attemtping to get one going

Thanks

Pete

[teachergal29]

teachergal29, I think I may be hooked on the aft verandahs as well! Did you have any rain during your sailing? I wonder if that may be the reason for the verandah water.

 

I'm sorry... I just saw this question... No, we really didn't have any rain to speak of.. The only time we found our veranda wet was when our cabin steward hosed it down to clean it, but it dried quickly enough. No standing water like you were describing...

We are taking the Oosterdam in April and have booked an aft veranda (SC5186)to see the difference in size of pre and post retrofit. I've seen so many great pictures of the aft verandas before they cut off the depth of them. Even though the veranda is still larger in the aft suites than the ones along the sides of the ship, they are not as deep (maybe by around 5 to 7 feet shorter now) as they were. My understanding is that the Westerdam was the first to go through the changes('07) , this year is the Zuiderdam(08), and the Oosterdam in '09. Still, there is nothing like the wake to stare at and relax along with the wonderful sound of the ocean. Pure heaven!!:D

[purplenorway]

retiredldo, I think our lifeboat drill was at 4:15. For the meet & greet I went through Amanda Fritz. E-mail: afritz@hollandamerica.com. Have a great cruise!

 

Still, there is nothing like the wake to stare at and relax along with the wonderful sound of the ocean. Pure heaven!!:D

 

Ahhh, yes. I agree!

[retiredldo]

Becky thanks I have sent her an email and will adjust from there

 

Pete

[1 Cruise Fan]

:) Can you tell me what days are Formal Nights.

Thank You.

Stacie.

[purplenorway]

Hi Stacie,

 

Formal nights were on the sea days, Monday and Friday.

[romancing_the_sea]

What a fabulous looking cruise! Love your veranda! Our best cruise ever was on the previous Westerdam - would love to book this Westerdam!

[purplenorway]

Hi romancing_the_sea (nice screen name ;)) The cruise was fabulous! We have also been on the previous Westerdam and the new Westerdam is wonderful! I hope you get a chance to sail her!

[CA Oceanfront]

Becky, sure enjoyed reading your review. I'm also appreciative of the time you are taking to answer questions from other CC'ers. We're in an SA on the March 19 Noordam sailing out of New York. Do you happen to recall what time the Suite Welcome Reception was held in the NL? This will be our first cruise on HAL, after recently sampling Celebrity for the first time back in October (with MidgeCruiser, I might add!). Hi Wendy!

 

Thanks!

 

Marty