Westerdam - Favorite Expression and some other notes

[gizmo]

KK,

 

I always enjoy your reviews because you tell it like it is. Thanks for taking the time to write it. :)

[hammybee]

 

She was also very bossy and rudely demanding of her employees. I literally saw her snap her fingers at an employee, and in another case, slap a table to get an employee's attention.

 

Snapping fingers is a common technique in hospitality management to get someone's attention, especially when working with different cultures. It's not the same enviornment that exists in U.S. land based corporate offices.

 

It's fasinating that oftentimes when a man uses the same behaviors he is viewed as a commanding leader while a woman is viewed as being bossy.

[NoNoNanette]

KK-

 

I know that you were greatly anticipating this cruise. Sorry to read that it didn't go so smoothly. :(

 

For what it's worth, I saw no insinuations in your posts. I enjoy reading your stuff. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you all!!

As many of you know and I mentioned this at the beginning of this thread -- we don't book a cruise for the ship -- we book a cruise for the itinerary.

Guess what -- while we were on this cruise -- we booked the Westerdam for the spring of 2009 because there are 3 new ports for us!!!

[sail7seas]

Funny.... we're pretty much the opposite. We book a cruise more for the ship than the itinerary. :) That's why we have sailed Maasdam SO much and are looking for more bookings on Noordam. We even booked b-to-b on Eurodam to see the new ship. We're repeating the same itinerary two cruises in a row. :)

 

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Funny.... we're pretty much the opposite. We book a cruise more for the ship than the itinerary. :) That's why we have sailed Maasdam SO much and are looking for more bookings on Noordam. We even booked b-to-b on Eurodam to see the new ship. We're repeating the same itinerary two cruises in a row. :)

 

 

Sail I have to agree we are the same, for about the last 14 cruises the ship has been the destination. In all honestly we will not even really get off the ship to do anything other than take pictures of the Amsterdam on our next cruise. I guess that is why we have been on the Oosterdam so many times to the Mexican Riviera:D

Not that either way of thinking is wrong, it shows there are different personalities and types of cruisers.

[sail7seas]

Not that either way of thinking is wrong, it shows there are different personalities and types of cruisers.

 

Exactly, Lisa. :)

 

[geochic77]

Although I did not experience the breaking of dishes and rough seas, we had our fair share of the Westerdam's experiences just the same. This was my first cruise which was a birthday gift from my bf. We stayed in one of the verandah rooms w/balconies on the eighth level. The scenery was incredible, but failed to compensate for embarkation delays, early departure from ports, unexpected bill charges, poor service, rude crew members and mediocre food. I was not at all impressed with Holland America or the Westerdam.

We were allowed to board the ship at 11:00 a.m.. However, no rooms were ready. Everyone was "invited" to be crammed into the buffet area with all of their carry-on luggage to eat while rooms were being cleaned. Finally, about 1:00 p.m., our rooms were finally ready. We were scheduled to leave port (Seattle) at 4:00 p.m., but the oil barrier was sucked up into the ship's propeller which delayed us another three hours. We quickly found this cruise line is quite fond of fees and tips that were nowhere to be found in any of our pre-cruising paperwork or online. If they provided poor service or were a bit rude, they still got a 15% tip. I found few crew members to be deserving of even this low tip. We found the food at the buffet and main dining room to be mediocre, at best. Some staff in the dining areas were rude and neglected to remove dirty dishes or refill water glasses. On the last formal night, I had the pleasure of almost drinking out of a dirty water glass with some one's lipstick on it.

Sadly, I could go on and on commenting too about more negative experiences than positive ones. One thing we did agree on a couple of days into our trip was that HAL was not a line we'd care to give our business to in the future.

[cccole]

Although I did not experience the breaking of dishes and rough seas, we had our fair share of the Westerdam's experiences just the same. This was my first cruise which was a birthday gift from my bf. We stayed in one of the verandah rooms w/balconies on the eighth level. The scenery was incredible, but failed to compensate for embarkation delays, early departure from ports, unexpected bill charges, poor service, rude crew members and mediocre food. I was not at all impressed with Holland America or the Westerdam.

We were allowed to board the ship at 11:00 a.m.. However, no rooms were ready. Everyone was "invited" to be crammed into the buffet area with all of their carry-on luggage to eat while rooms were being cleaned. Finally, about 1:00 p.m., our rooms were finally ready. We were scheduled to leave port (Seattle) at 4:00 p.m., but the oil barrier was sucked up into the ship's propeller which delayed us another three hours. We quickly found this cruise line is quite fond of fees and tips that were nowhere to be found in any of our pre-cruising paperwork or online. If they provided poor service or were a bit rude, they still got a 15% tip. I found few crew members to be deserving of even this low tip. We found the food at the buffet and main dining room to be mediocre, at best. Some staff in the dining areas were rude and neglected to remove dirty dishes or refill water glasses. On the last formal night, I had the pleasure of almost drinking out of a dirty water glass with some one's lipstick on it.

Sadly, I could go on and on commenting too about more negative experiences than positive ones. One thing we did agree on a couple of days into our trip was that HAL was not a line we'd care to give our business to in the future.

 

How awful to have been looking forward to a cruise and then have it be so unpleasant for you. We have had one HAL cruise and been on several other lines and I have to say we have NEVER had an experience like yours. There may be one or two things on each ship that are not fantastic but not enough to make me say NEVER AGAIN. And I am very critical of many things that are included in cruises. Sorry for your unpleasant experience.

 

By-the-way......cabins are always ready at 1:00 on most cruise lines. The ships let you board early if you wish to and have lunch but you don't have to. We always wait to board until about 1:30 or 2:00, go directly to our cabin and then get a bite to eat if we want.

 

Hope you have more fun on your next vacation!!!! Cherie

[KAKcruiser]

I have been on the same ship a year apart and had very different experiences. This happened to me three times. I think this has to do with the Hotel Manager and his staff who change a couple of times a year.

[marle7]

Funny.... we're pretty much the opposite. We book a cruise more for the ship than the itinerary. :) That's why we have sailed Maasdam SO much and are looking for more bookings on Noordam. We even booked b-to-b on Eurodam to see the new ship. We're repeating the same itinerary two cruises in a row. :)

 

 

 

For me it's the ship, for hubby, it's the ports. So we try to choose cruises that give us a nice mix of both sea days for me, and interesting ports for him.:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Although I did not experience the breaking of dishes and rough seas, we had our fair share of the Westerdam's experiences just the same. This was my first cruise which was a birthday gift from my bf. We stayed in one of the verandah rooms w/balconies on the eighth level. The scenery was incredible, but failed to compensate for embarkation delays, early departure from ports, unexpected bill charges, poor service, rude crew members and mediocre food. I was not at all impressed with Holland America or the Westerdam.

We were allowed to board the ship at 11:00 a.m.. However, no rooms were ready. Everyone was "invited" to be crammed into the buffet area with all of their carry-on luggage to eat while rooms were being cleaned. Finally, about 1:00 p.m., our rooms were finally ready. We were scheduled to leave port (Seattle) at 4:00 p.m., but the oil barrier was sucked up into the ship's propeller which delayed us another three hours. We quickly found this cruise line is quite fond of fees and tips that were nowhere to be found in any of our pre-cruising paperwork or online. If they provided poor service or were a bit rude, they still got a 15% tip. I found few crew members to be deserving of even this low tip. We found the food at the buffet and main dining room to be mediocre, at best. Some staff in the dining areas were rude and neglected to remove dirty dishes or refill water glasses. On the last formal night, I had the pleasure of almost drinking out of a dirty water glass with some one's lipstick on it.

Sadly, I could go on and on commenting too about more negative experiences than positive ones. One thing we did agree on a couple of days into our trip was that HAL was not a line we'd care to give our business to in the future.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

We were fortunate to have excellent service in the dining room for both the 19 day and 7 day cruises.

Also we had excellent service in the Crow's Nest from both bar tenders and our server when we sat by the windows.

We never left any Alaskan port early - followed the schedule that was posted on HAL's site.

Embarkation delay? Please explain as you mentioned that you boarded the ship at 11. That's normal.

Unexpected bill charges? Please explain.

[sppunk]

I was on the cruise geochic77 mentioned and we did not occur any additional billing or leave any ports early / late (Seattle we left late because of the oil boom snapping around the azipods, and Captain Harris did a fantastic job of keeping guests up-to-date on a matter that was completely out of HAL's hands.

[CruiserBruce]

It would seem geochic77 may not had done much research on their cruise. Many of the things that seem surprising to them are well documented as standard operating procedures. The rooms not being available until 1 or 1:30, and what you do while you are waiting for the rooms. Tips automatically placed on bar tabs.

 

I also would like to see what charges were a surprise to them. The only charges we weren't aware of going into our 19 day cruise were the increased port charges for Seattle and the Panama Canal, something that seemed very recent, and was announced in a letter in our cabin upon boarding. Perhaps that was a surprise to them.

[PetNanny]

It would seem geochic77 may not had done much research on their cruise. Many of the things that seem surprising to them are well documented as standard operating procedures. The rooms not being available until 1 or 1:30, and what you do while you are waiting for the rooms. Tips automatically placed on bar tabs.

 

I also would like to see what charges were a surprise to them. The only charges we weren't aware of going into our 19 day cruise were the increased port charges for Seattle and the Panama Canal, something that seemed very recent, and was announced in a letter in our cabin upon boarding. Perhaps that was a surprise to them.

 

We were on the Westerdam for the cruise geochic77 commented on and had a wonderful time. The only additional charge we paid was the increased port charge for Seattle. When we boarded we were directed to the Lido for lunch and it was so crowed that we could not find seating; however, a crew member took us over to a table and cleaned it off. We knew beforehand the rooms would not be ready until 1:00 or so. Yes, we were late leaving but Captain Harris did make up the time. Several times we saw him and members of his staff in the Lido and on deck and they were always pleasant. Sometimes when we went to the Lido for coffee and it wasn't busy, some of the crew would come over and talk with us.

 

The only "problem" we had was the last evening at dinner. We had booked a tour of Victoria at 6:15 p.m. When our food had not been served by 6:00, we had to leave. Service was sometimes a little slow, but we had to consider the number of people in the dining room.

 

Overall, it was a wonderful trip. It was so nice to have someone else (TA) handle the paperwork so that all we had to do was get to the airport. We have booked another cruise with HAL and are looking at something for next spring.

[Cruising-along]

KK I missed this before, as we were on a cruise when you posted. Even though your cruise wasn't up to par, you have a great way of adding humor to your detail :)

 

It was especially interesting to me because I have friends who were on the next sailing after you. Granted it was their first HAL cruise, but they were raving about how wonderful it was. In fact they said they will only consider HAL for any future cruises. Either things improved considerably, or, more likely, being their first cruise they didn't know what was missing :confused:

 

Oh yes, they had their (very good looking) grand daughter with them, who apparently spent quite a bit of time with the captain ;) LOL

[Krazy Kruizers]

KK I missed this before, as we were on a cruise when you posted. Even though your cruise wasn't up to par, you have a great way of adding humor to your detail :)

 

It was especially interesting to me because I have friends who were on the next sailing after you. Granted it was their first HAL cruise, but they were raving about how wonderful it was. In fact they said they will only consider HAL for any future cruises. Either things improved considerably, or, more likely, being their first cruise they didn't know what was missing :confused:

 

Oh yes, they had their (very good looking) grand daughter with them, who apparently spent quite a bit of time with the captain ;) LOL

 

Thank you for your information.

[Zyzygy]

We had a good time on its Glacier Bay itinerary in mid-July, and the crew seemed friendly and in good spirits.

 

Earlier posters had mentioned that the captain, hotel manager, and cruise director went on an extended season-long "vacation" in early June. This tells me that HAL may have undertaken a major shakeup of the senior officers of the ship.

 

Also, the disillusionment of the wait staff with AYWD has been documented fleet-wide. Servers who were accustomed to extra tips from reserved seating were no doubt dismayed to see those extra tips vanish with AYWD.

 

Also, Westerdam's constantly repeating Alaska itinerary must be incredibly dull for the crew. Four hours in the morning in Ketchikan might be exciting for a first-time visitor to Alaska, but for an Indonesian crew it must get very old very fast. At least in the winter Westerdam sails three different Caribbean itineraries and only repeats its ports every third week.

 

Anyway, we were glad to see the crew morale problems resolved by the time we sailed in mid-July, but I can see how a constantly repeating Alaska itinerary, with limited time in the same few ports would get pretty old pretty fast.

 

Also, the recently reported improvement to an $11 automatic tip should help fleetwide morale, as the falling dollar has to have hit these international crews very hard.

 

Just a few thoughts.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We had a good time on its Glacier Bay itinerary in mid-July, and the crew seemed friendly and in good spirits.

 

Earlier posters had mentioned that the captain, hotel manager, and cruise director went on an extended season-long "vacation" in early June. This tells me that HAL may have undertaken a major shakeup of the senior officers of the ship.

 

Also, the disillusionment of the wait staff with AYWD has been documented fleet-wide. Servers who were accustomed to extra tips from reserved seating were no doubt dismayed to see those extra tips vanish with AYWD.

 

Also, Westerdam's constantly repeating Alaska itinerary must be incredibly dull for the crew. Four hours in the morning in Ketchikan might be exciting for a first-time visitor to Alaska, but for an Indonesian crew it must get very old very fast. At least in the winter Westerdam sails three different Caribbean itineraries and only repeats its ports every third week.

 

Anyway, we were glad to see the crew morale problems resolved by the time we sailed in mid-July, but I can see how a constantly repeating Alaska itinerary, with limited time in the same few ports would get pretty old pretty fast.

 

Also, the recently reported improvement to an $11 automatic tip should help fleetwide morale, as the falling dollar has to have hit these international crews very hard.

 

Just a few thoughts.

 

 

The dining room wait staff are shifted about every 2 weeks -- so the same staff so not always remian in the AYWD -- they rotate to the traditonal dining times and the those that have been working the traditonal dining are moved to the AYWD -- thus all get a chance to serve the traditonal passengers.