New Year's Noordam Cruise-Review

[INSIDERS CABIN]

Thumbs Up to:

MKE (instead of ORD). Enjoyed soft send-off on Xmas Day listening to pianist play carols, sitting amidst decorated trees and poinsettias, visiting the large and well-stocked secondhand book store for deeply discounted trip reading. In Fll,stayed at Hilton Gallery One, short walk to public Beach and next door to Galleria, CVS. $37 for minivan cab from airport.

 

Suite LIfe. Thrilled by Xmas Eve upgrade to SA from our SY. From the moment my "S" for "Suite" or make that "special" was clipped on, all went smoothly. Liked daily delivery of menus to keep; "my" walk-in closet and vanity table area; cappuccino machine, berries, newspapers in Neptune. Laundry was agaiin done beautifully(unlike Eurodam inaugural when spotted shirt was sent, returned, resent, returned with spots!) Ari and Tri, our pair of stewards were top-notch; I do think they get promoted up the ship.

 

Crew and Staff. Worked very well together. On 1 Jan we were greeted all day and evening with "Happy New Year;" a happy crew made for mostly happy passengers!

 

Meals. Better meals, better variety, better presentation and menus than on Eurodam inaugural. Finally had caviar again at suite luncheon. Best veal chop ever, great rack of lamb, good greenhouse spa cuisine, such as beet and chili appetizer. NY EVe dessert was a masterpiece --a bittersweet chocolate sail, about 6 inches tall, filled with mascarpone mousse and a greeting written in gold leaf!

 

Ports. Grand Turk was so easy--walk off pier, turn, take seat on lounger on sandy beach, look at water and ship! Nice because no charge for chairs-yet-and islanders are not aggressively seeking cruisers. Rest of island still cleaning up from hurricane.Stay in roped area; saw shingles in water further down. SanJuan offers history, walking,culture. Easy hike to El Morro ($3 adult admission), self-guided tour and overview with park ranger. We docked at Crown Bay, St. Thomas. There are a few shops at pier, or take jitney ( HAL offers $10 pp all day ride pass)to downtown shops. Our $9 Hawaiian shirts survived the wash and look good enough to pack for the next trip! Half Moon Cay is our favorite Caribbean stop. Statendam also there, but plenty of space, chairs, clamshells and food lines very quick.

 

New Year's Eve. Liveliest scene ever on a Hal Ship-- in Vista Lounge with simulcast in Crow's Nest!

 

Fellow Passengers. Youngest, best-dressed, most formal and most active crowd seen in recent years. About one-third Mariners, but mostly one or two time repeaters.

 

Pinnacle Grill, AYWD, Gym, Cooking Demos,Trivia contests, Movies, Entertainers, Spa Services, Activities, Library, Dam Dollars, Casino, Lecturer. Ranged from all as expected to Better than ever!

 

Weather. Best ever and smoothest seas in caribbean at this time of year. Thanks, Captain!

 

Thumbs Down to:

 

Hydrotherapy Pool. We purchased $400 in weekly passes for us and college-age son. The value of those passes dropped considerably as we "shared" the pool with kids who repeatedly sneaked in; children, brought in by parents,( who intentionally flaunt rules); and by the noisiest, most inconsiderate passengers ever encountered. The spa staff actively routed out the offenders, but they had no shame and the problem continued all week.

 

Fellow passengers. As attentive, friendly and cheerful as we have always found the crew and staff, we cannot say the same about our 1895 fellow passengers. Even in the Neptune, my husband witnessed a woman berating and shrieking at the conciereges because her key card lost its magnet. That staff was dismissed by Hal because of this incident. After that scene, the woman had the chutzpah to continue to show her face daily in lounge. (we often wonder how these people cope with real problems at home and at work-don't you?) Also we picked up after able-bodied passengers who left plastic drinkcups at waters edge on the groomed beach at G.T. instead of walking 100 feet to the trash containers, and those who left glasses- partially filled- on the midships stairs and surface of the promenade deck and those who couldn't pick up their towels as they returned to the ship at HMC!

 

Piano Bar. Did not bond with this ship's pianist's style. We really like Jimmy Maddox, who was not on this cruise, but is back on the Eurodam this week.

[RuthC]

I'm thrilled to read the the Noordam shipboard atmosphere is better than the E-dam inaugural. I was on the inaugural :(, and will be on the Noordam in a couple of weeks. Thank you so very much for giving me hope that this cruise will be better. :)

Piano Bar. Did not bond with this ship's pianist's style. We really like Jimmy Maddox, who was not on this cruise, but is back on the Eurodam this week.

This disturbs me. Who is playing there now? Please, please, PLEASE!!! tell me it isn't Bob coming over from the E-dam? He replaced Jimmy on the E-dam's second cruise. He was awful! :mad: Very possibly the worst I have ever seen on HAL.

[INSIDERS CABIN]

Ruth, Piano man was Larry Steele--haven't encountered him before. What can I say? Just not our voice, manner, music or style, unlike the great Mr. Maddox! He gathered a fair crowd, but not us. Any other questions-i have all the daily sheets still out.

 

String quartet was better on Eurodam as well. Music here was very elevator-type, not sit and listen! This was our second trip on Noordam in about a year and both trips were good staff and crew and entertainment. I just felt Eurodam inaugural experience was not even up to Holiday Cruise standards-that was my expectation.

 

We made the most of the ship, which is what we do in Caribbean. There was no hand shaking. Signs were up at receptions. But, no outbreaks of anything. In FLL airport, there were throngs of RCCI passengers who all had a croupy cough. I really dislike that airport. They need to tax all the cruise ship passengers, get some revenues and expand the terminal so all the passengers can fit inside!

[RuthC]

Ruth, Piano man was Larry Steele--haven't encountered him before. What can I say? Just not our voice, manner, music or style, unlike the great Mr. Maddox! He gathered a fair crowd, but not us. Any other questions-i have all the daily sheets still out.

Thank you so much for the prompt response. I don't know Larry, but he can't (at least I hope he can't) be any worse than Bob.

I liked Jimmy, and he was accomodating to a variety of tastes in music, but he didn't really suit my style, either.

Guess I'll find out soon enough.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

Sorry about the Hydro Pool.

[rebeljohn]

Ruth, Piano man was Larry Steele--haven't encountered him before. What can I say? Just not our voice, manner, music or style, unlike the great Mr. Maddox! He gathered a fair crowd, but not us. Any other questions-i have all the daily sheets still out.

 

We had Larry Steele during our Thanksgiving Noordam cruise. He got off when we did, but it looks like he is back. We enjoyed his music trivia each evening................

[fllcruiser]

Ruth C, I have to agree with Insider, Mr. Steel was on the Thanksgiving cruise and I did not care for him. A dissapointment as I love a Piano Bar.

[RuthC]

Ruth C, I have to agree with Insider, Mr. Steel was on the Thanksgiving cruise and I did not care for him. A dissapointment as I love a Piano Bar.

Phooey.

(I can't find an emoticon for a Bronx cheer.)

[kalliekae]

Thanks for the review. We also had Ari as our cabin steward last May. He is the absolute BEST! I also enjoy a good piano bar and we had "Piano Man Ian" on our trip. Dh didn't think he was that great, but I enjoyed him.

[HALFans]

Thank you so much for the prompt response. I don't know Larry, but he can't (at least I hope he can't) be any worse than Bob.

 

Hmmm. Is it possible that Bob was on the Zaandam January 2008? Is the the more 'Country Western' guy?

 

I don't remember the name of the Piano Bar guy on our 15 day Hawaii trip. I was so brokenhearted that I couldn't stand the guy.

 

No name that tune. No music trivia, and my favorite nook away from the stateroom was out of bounds for the whole trip. :(

[RuthC]

Hmmm. Is it possible that Bob was on the Zaandam January 2008? Is the the more 'Country Western' guy?

The first (and hopefully last) time I heard Bob (no last name?) was on the E-dam's second cruise, so I don't know if he was ever on the Zaandam. But it doesn't sound like the same person. This guy was just loud!, Louder!!, LOUDEST!!!, and played a lot of Elvis. Even on The King and The Crooners night, most of what he played was Elvis, and no crooner other than Frank Sinatra. :rolleyes:

[Capital Cruiser]

 

Thumbs Down to:

 

Fellow passengers. As attentive, friendly and cheerful as we have always found the crew and staff, we cannot say the same about our 1895 fellow passengers. Even in the Neptune, my husband witnessed a woman berating and shrieking at the conciereges because her key card lost its magnet. That staff was dismissed by Hal because of this incident.

 

Dismissed, as in fired? sent off the ship? or perhaps just moved away so that they did not have to deal with that obnoxious passenger any more? I certainly hope that HAL would not fire someone for an incident such as this.

[twinkletoes4445]

I enjoyed your review. We'll be on the Noordam in less than two weeks!! :)

 

Even in the Neptune, my husband witnessed a woman berating and shrieking at the conciereges because her key card lost its magnet. That staff was dismissed by Hal because of this incident. After that scene, the woman had the chutzpah to continue to show her face daily in lounge. (we often wonder how these people cope with real problems at home and at work-don't you?)

 

Rude people never cease to amaze me. Well, one of these days the Karma train is going to come around the bend and deal with these nasty-type folks...toot, toot. :(

[katgio50]

I, too, did not like Larry Steele at all. We were on the holiday sailing and went one night for a sing=along with Christmas music and I thought he was terrible. It could have been so much fun.

[Love Cruises]

"This disturbs me. Who is playing there now? Please, please, PLEASE!!! tell me it isn't Bob coming over from the E-dam? He replaced Jimmy on the E-dam's second cruise. He was awful! Very possibly the worst I have ever seen on HAL. "

__________________

 

RuthC...

We recently were on a 26 day Amazon cruise on the msPRINSENDAM and I think we had the WORST piano player on board. It was his first contract with HAL. He didn't know how to do NAME THAT TUNE and when he did his theme was THE BEATLES (3 times) and had more or less the same songs each time! He was very loud and did not have a very good collection of music that he knew! The CD and staff were well aware that he just did not know what to do on a cruiseship. His name is Terrence and hopefully HAL will not renew with him.

[RuthC]

RuthC...

We recently were on a 26 day Amazon cruise on the msPRINSENDAM and I think we had the WORST piano player on board. It was his first contract with HAL. He didn't know how to do NAME THAT TUNE and when he did his theme was THE BEATLES (3 times) and had more or less the same songs each time! He was very loud and did not have a very good collection of music that he knew! The CD and staff were well aware that he just did not know what to do on a cruiseship. His name is Terrence and hopefully HAL will not renew with him.

I've run into a few truly awful "entertainers" (and I use the term loosely) in the Piano Bars in the last few years. I have to wonder who is hiring these guys (I do know the name), and why better people aren't working for the line.

[INSIDERS CABIN]

Altho we know there is always more to the story than what we observe, it was a case of firing employee(s) and sending home from next port because a customer complaint escalated to top management level. Be aware more could have been in employee(s) files than what happened our week, but termination was abrupt and staffing completely changed. I think all are aware that in industries where customer service is key, yes, a customer complaint often can justify a firing or demotion, cause a bonus to be withheld, or, place an employee on probation. Real problems are one thing; spurious complaints that can be fixed with patience are quite another! But as we have witnessed in the past, Hal employee training is amazing--stewards and staff respond with politeness when any of us would explode at the accusations! I still remember the woman 3 cruises ago who flung the cream cheese packets at the poor bagel guy in the lido and screamed at the steward who held her tray that she couldn't find coffee anywhere(try walking around the corner--or, where have you been for 7 days?) The stewards politely helped her without a murmur!

[Rhea58]

Glad you had a good cruise.

 

There's another post about many activities and staff being eliminated.

Drew Murdock is the CD; do you recall how many gals were on his staff?

There were 5 when I was on-board and plenty of activities.

 

As a single I enjoy the daily stuff; sure hope they are not being totally

phased out.

 

Thanks in advance for a reply.

[INSIDERS CABIN]

Hmm-we did not meet any gals on CD Drew's staff.....don't remember any introductions during special events.....the party-planner did a few food themed trivia events.....dam dollar events run by the dj....there was a good event at sailaway where all the different ship's departments participated.-art sales, custom photo portraits,casino, spa, future trip consultant, etc. You were given a quiz which required you to visit all of the tables to get the answers to the questions, then, after filling it in, you turned it in and received a lottery ticket. Every few minutes the dj drew a ticket and awarded a prize! I thought it was a very qood way to acquaint passengers, new and mariners, to ship services, hours, events.

[Rhea58]

Thanks Insider for the Heads Up!

 

I had such a good time as the 5 gals on Drew's staff were really sweet

& quite affable as was he. I don't take the sun or do the pool scene so seaday enjoyment is all the games that are played & a great way, as a single, to meet other folks to hang or tour with.

 

This change in Hal's policy vastly colors my thinking. I have long been a

fan but am now forced to look at Celebrity, RCL, and if really desperate,

Carnival as I always 'gift' myself for Feb birthday in Carib among other

trips.

 

Thanks agian...and Happy cruising to you.