Westerdam Olivia Charter Review March 1 - 8

[fionan]

I thought the regular HAL board might find a review of this trip interesting, even though it was a charter, so some things may be different. Olivia is a lesbian travel company, that only does full charters. They have worked with HAL for years and years. This was a trip to Eastern Caribbean, out of Fort Lauderdale. I travelled with my Spouse: C.

 

Flight and pre trip in FLL:

We flew BA to Miami and took a cab from the airport to Fort Lauderdale upon landing. No wait for cab and no issue driving us out of the city. Cost inc tip was $100 and next time I will book a car service for greater comfort - cab was a bit grotty and aircon didn't work. Coming from the cold UK, we sweated and suffered on that ride.

 

We stayed in the Riverside Hotel - taking CC board recommendations we booked a tower room. It was lovely. Spotlessly clean, large, with comfortable beds. Our corner balcony overlooked the New River.

 

Dinner in the hotel casual restaurant was delicious, fresh fish, fresh vegetables, good chef. Service pleasant, and the server proactively offered the 25% discount for hotel residents. Jetlagged, we took an early night.

 

Next morning, I had booked a massage at Planet Massage, just one block south on E. las Olas Bvd. We had breakfast first at La Bonne Crepe - I would recommend this for breakfast or brunch. Wide menu - crepes (obviously:)) but also specialty omelettes and the usual fried things. The massage was awesome - one of the best one-off massages I have ever had. Mark was incredibly thoughtful and skilfull. A great start to the holiday - I enjoyed it so much I booked another for the Sunday morning of disembarkation. The studio does couple massages with candles and mood music, and all shades between, up to the more remedial, therapeutic massage style that I requested.

 

After that we shopped on the Bvd, then got an all day ticket for the river taxi. Be aware that there are two competing services, the little white boats and the big yellow boats. Yellow are more frequent. They take sligtly different routes. We ended up getting all day tickets for each ($12 + $13 each) for flexiibility. A good way to see the city and relax.

 

Joining the cruise:

The next day we took it easy and got a cab to the port. Embarkation was easy because we were in a suite and there was a dedicated line for suite passengers. We had to get blue pin on badges with an "S" from the lady with the clpboard and this was not obvious. We arrived at about 10.45 ie before boarding so we joined the line. The line was in the open air and we were hot and thirsty. HAL employees came along the line with cups of water and juice. I wished I had brought a hat. At the corner of the building the line peeled off for suite passengers, and we followed the arrows. After a short wait in the terminal we were invited to board first.

 

I went straight to the spa:D. I had pre purchased the spa package, thinking that it would give me a pass to the hydropool. Then I learned on CC that this is just spa credit and you have to get your name on the list. This is true (thank you CC). My name was the very first one on the list. The spa manager told me that the passes sell out by about 1pm usually. She suggested that i book the times of my other treatments at this time as sea days also sell out on about the same timetable. The spa massages were nice - but they were beauty massages rather than the kind I am used to at home.

 

After that we went to the Neptune room for a coffee. I found the coffee from the machine very weak. More like a drip coffee than espresso. Probably my European taste showing. Concierges were very helpful - I heard them dealing with a number of issues while I was there.

 

Our room:

following advice on CC (again thank you) we booked 6166, an aft corner suite. The balcony was great, but the room was significantly smaller than other suites we looked into on the last day. You really do get the same floor space and no more, just the choice to have it as outdoor space rather than indoor. Olivia gifted us a bottle of champagne (it isn't automatically given to the suites - they use their allowance to reward repeat customers, irrespective of class of cabin).

 

Food and entertainment

the movies, and music in the smaller bars is the standard HAL offering, but the Vista lounge is used for Olivia's own entertainment - we had comedians and musicians.

 

dining was open seating (though it was possible to reserve a table) but with two fixed times 6pm and 8pm - doors closed after 15 mins. Seems to me this is the worst of all worlds - the rigidity of a fixed time, with a scramble for a table every night. I would have preferred more flexibility on seating time.

 

Service was pleasant, but slow and clueless. I need gluten free food - it never came at the same time as anyone else's - one meal the main course came 20 minutes later than everyone else's. In theory I could order for the following day. In practice, the next night's menus were never available. And even though our server could see that we had pre-ordered that night's meal he never joined the dots to think about offering tomorrow's menu so we could repeat the experience. Bar orders were slow, our wine came one night when we were half way through the main course (course 3). There simply were not enough staff to handle the volume.

 

Room service breakfast was a disappointment - for charter trips only 3 set breakfasts are offered, with no substitutions.

 

Ports and excursions

Our first port of call was grand turk. It was a cloudy and cold day. I had pre-booked a massage with Spa Anani and cannot recommend them too highly. They offer massages at the cruise centre, or you can visit them in town - but need to pre book that. Claire really knew her stuff and it was a very good massage. C visited the museum at this time and said it was small but interesting. We then went to the Sandbar cafe - which is a great place to sit by the water, drink rum punch and maybe have lunch. It was very easy to get a taxi back to the ship - the drivers just cruise around and slow down when they see cruise passengers to offer a ride - $5 per person each way.

 

Next we visited Puerto Rico - it was cold cloudy and raining. We enjoyed a walk around the old town, but it got too cold and wet so we went back to the ship. Kind of a wasted day. I was booked on the 4pm canopy tour, but the weather was so bad that I decided not to go.

 

St Thomas was also cold and wet. I took the eco kayak hike and snorkel trip to cas Cay. It was OK, but the snorkel visibility was poor because of the rain, and kayaking back into the wind and rain was not fun. I think on a fine day this would be a great trip. The guides certainly knew their stuff and were friendly and informative. One thing that annoyed me though was at the blowhole they stood there talking to each other most of the time we were there RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE BLOWHOLE and oblivious to the women trying to take photos of the water spout. At the end they blatantly hustled for tips - shaking the big jar while they spoke.

 

HMC was - guess what - rainy and cold. Except for a couple of hours around lunchtime. The barbecue was good, though I wish they would have a separate line for the people who need to think hard and slow about every addition to their burger. We had a clamshell pre-booked which we did not need, because of the weather. My top tip is that unless you want to hear the music, don't pick one close to any of the bars. My mistake. Our snorkel trip was cancelled because of the weather, and I am not sure what a regular cruise would do for fun on a cloudy, cold day. We had the "Olivia Olympics" team games to participate in or watch. You have to pay for all drinks, except at lunchtime, where there are the usual Lido water and juice dispensers up by the barbecue. I wanted an icecream but the stand was shut - so I went back to the ship early.

 

On our sea days the onboard entertainment was great all day - ballroom dancing lessons, bingo, pool games, pre-dinner dancing. Most of that was Olivia specific though. Between these activities and my daily spa session I had very little time left.

 

Conclusion

I loved the cruise and the Olivia vibe. I'm not convinced I would enjoy a regular cruise unless the weather was better. I think without the Olivia extras, given the weather and the cancelled excursions I would have found it a bit disappointing.

 

Disembarkation and travel home

As suite passengers we had Pink independent tickets, so could leave at our leisure. I had to be in town for 10am for my massage appointment, so we had a Lido mini -breakfast and then left the ship. disembarkation was fast and painless with no real line at customs and none for the taxis. We arrived with 40 mins to spare and so returned to la bonne crepe for breakfast. Another awesome omelette. "Are you ladies with THAT cruise?" we were asked. Gulp. Is it that infamous around town? Turned out her next door neighbours had been cruising with us. Another great massage, then the problem of how to get a cab to Miami. This is how we did it: we wheeled our cases straight through the E las Olas Bvd entrance to the Riverside hotel, looking like incoming guests. Straight through the lobby and out to the rear door - where the transport picks up and drops off - looking like departing guests. Smile at the doorman - could you arrange transport to the Miami airport. No problem, someone had just been dropped off and we got that car back. Very nice - aircon + comfortable, $95 "all in". We had no idea what that meant so we tipped on top. Hung around at aiport til our flight.

[jbhcw]

Good review, thanks for posting. Sorry your weather was cold and rainy, I would have been disappointed too:)

 

Was wondering at first why you chose to fly into Miami, but then realized you probably had a direct flight from there to the UK:)

[wdw1972]

Great review - thanks for sharing. We were on the Westerdam Feb 8th and were also in a suite. A bottle of champagne is standard for all suites - a gift from the hotel manager. Perhaps they don't do that with charters, though. I have to say, the disappointing parts of your review were all Olivia/charter related...except for the weather. Why they couldn't keep the many wonderful things about HAL even though the ship was chartered out is beyond me - not sure if it's HAL's idea or Olivia's. But, in any event - a non-chartered HAL cruise sounds better to me than what you experienced (excluding your Olivia-related activities).

 

Sue/WDW1972

Eurodam 11/07/09

[fionan]

Sue - I agree with you that HAL may adjust the service down for a charter. I hope it was that. :) And yes, the weather was awful.

 

Re-reading my review, though, with the benefit of the comments, I don't think I gave enough information about how great the Olivia experience was - and this is what made it such a good time. All the passengers were so friendly, because everyone had come on board with the intention of having a great time in the company of 2000+ women. Any time I walked down a corridor I seemed to end up in a coversation with someone. The average age was 47, and all of the older women would fall into the description discussed in another thead of truly interesting people with years of fascinating life experierience.

 

The entertainment was great - tailored to the audience - I can't imagine going to any of the shows on a regular cruise. The pre-dinner dancing was wonderful. And Camille's dance lessons were one of the high spots of the trip.I love dancing with C and I'm not sure we would be comfortable dancing together on a regular cruise.- would be interested in honest feedback on that.

 

It is really hard to explain just how amazing and empowering an Olivia cruise is. Don't get me wrong - I live in the real world and love my life. I am completely "out" at work, at home, with my family. But even so, there is still something so energizing and amazing about being in a situation where "people like you" are the norm, the default. I love it. And that's what I meant by the "Olivia vibe" that I mentioned above.

 

I think that I "quite like" cruising, and with an interesting itinerary and maybe cruising at a different time of year when the weather would be more predictable I would consider a regular cruise. Certainly wouldn't rule it out. But I love the Olivia experience so much that I'm planning to book my next one.

[wdw1972]

The entertainment was great - tailored to the audience - I can't imagine going to any of the shows on a regular cruise. The pre-dinner dancing was wonderful. And Camille's dance lessons were one of the high spots of the trip.I love dancing with C and I'm not sure we would be comfortable dancing together on a regular cruise.- would be interested in honest feedback on that.

 

**************

While I don't think the typical HAL cruiser cares if anyone's gay or straight, and I've met a number of gay men on my cruises (have no idea if any women I met were gay), I wouldn't think they'd be comfortable seeing 2 women or 2 men slow dancing...but I also believe they'd be too polite to say anything. Whether you'd pick up on anything I guess depends on the situation. I guess it's not fair you can't be comfortable dancing with C in public except in an Olivia-type setting. For years a group of friends included a lesbian couple. I actually brought them into the group (the group shares a common travel interest & included mostly married women). We were good friends for years, and would see each other in various places and cruises, as well as in their home town. One night we along with other straight friends went to see a show a gay friend of mine was directing. It was a gay show, and it was being performed that night in a gay club in central Florida, and when I saw my 2 gay friends holding hands I admit I was a little uncomfortable (didn't expect to be). I know they're gay, they've been a couple for decades, I've been to their house, but seeing the hand-holding was weird. I'm straight, I cannot fathom how a woman could be attracted to another woman....just as they can't fathom how I'd be attracted to men <g>. It's possible, considering most HAL passengers are even older than I am - there's a good chance people might be uncomfortable...even those who consider themselves very open minded & accepting.

 

The Olivia cruises sound perfect for you, and since they pick HAL that tells me they're looking for a quality cruise for their members/customers.

 

Sue/WDW1972

Eurodam 11/07/0

[Boytjie]

I am so sorry to hear you had such miserable weather; we were on the RSVP charter on the Eurodam with the same itinerary a week earlier and we had very nice weather.

 

dining was open seating (though it was possible to reserve a table) but with two fixed times 6pm and 8pm - doors closed after 15 mins.

 

How different our cruises were! There was fixed dining at 6:30 and 8:45 pm with open seating on the upper level while it was flexible dining with open seating on the lower lever from 6:30 - 10:00 pm. Nobody checked any cruise cards and even though we had flexible dining we ate with friends at the 8:45 pm sitting on the last night to celebrate a birthday.

 

Room service breakfast was a disappointment - for charter trips only 3 set breakfasts are offered, with no substitutions.

We had regular room service for breakfast and I ordered Eggs Benedict one morning and it was delivered hot and yummy.

 

Interesting how it can differ from ship to ship or even charter to charter.

[twinkletoes4445]

Thanks for your review! The weather sounded dreadful. Hope you have sunshine and nice weather on your next cruise. :)

[jrzebird]

So sorry to hear the weather was so miserable. I have been to the Caribbean twice in January, and it was hot and mostly rain free. I think that the constant rain would put quite a damper on things. But, you seemed to have a wonderful time despite the weather! Good for you!

 

As for seeing two women (or men) dancing a slow dance together, I'm sure I'd do a double take, smile and then not think twice about it. Sure it's 'different', but that's what makes the world go around. And, I'm equally sure that there are some who would be uncomfortable, but a good number would be accepting.

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

[Sundagger]

The pre-dinner dancing was wonderful. And Camille's dance lessons were one of the high spots of the trip.I love dancing with C and I'm not sure we would be comfortable dancing together on a regular cruise.- would be interested in honest feedback on that.

 

I'm not sure. I live in a particularly gay-friendly town and have worked in particularly gay-friendly companies, so it wouldn't be anything of note here, but ... I'm not sure on HAL. I wouldn't expect any overt actions, but there would probably be some second looks. I hope other gay CCers would post on this. It's come up before. There is a gay forum on CC that undoubtedly has threads on the topic.

[EatonDoolittle]

I went straight to the spa:D. I had pre purchased the spa package, thinking that it would give me a pass to the hydropool. Then I learned on CC that this is just spa credit and you have to get your name on the list. This is true (thank you CC). My name was the very first one on the list. The spa manager told me that the passes sell out by about 1pm usually.

 

 

Thanks for the review -

Would you please elaborate on the "spa package" and passes? I'll be on this ship for a 14 day B2B later in the year and plan to do much relaxing. Is it a special quiet pool area like some other ships are going to? I understand spa OBC which you can get using points from your Visa card, but this is the first I have heard of a "pacakage " pass, and the need to get on a list.

[fionan]

the spa on the Westerdam is the Greenhouse Spa, where you can book treatments and entry to the hydropool/thermal suite. These need to be booked in person at the Spa as they do all the bookings on paper.

 

The hydropool and thermal suite is awesome. A thalassotherapy pool with warm water, leg massage jets, a central jacuzzi and a bench lounger along one end that you lie on with bubbles all around you. There is also a set of heated ceramic loungers facing a window with a view, a sauna and steam room. Passes to this facility are sold by the spa on a first come first served basis.

 

I purchased the wellbeing package online, which offered a pass to the above for a week, a massage, fitness class, alpha capsule treatment, a HAL robe, flowers for the room and a daily fruit plate delivery. When I got on board I found out that all this package really gave in relation to the spa servces was OBC. It was a lovely package, the fruit delivery every day was a really nice touch, and the overall cost was a slight saving on the sum of the individual costs. One big plus was that the spa parts that I did not use were credited as OBC. But.... be aware that the package does not give you a guaranteed hydro pass - there is a limited number of those and you have to sign up for it in person: typically in the first couple of hours according to the spa manager I spoke to.

 

hope that answers your question. let me know, if not.

 

F

[fionan]

Thanks everyone who replied on this - kind of what I expected to hear. A fair number of people would find it inappropriate, but good manners would preclude a scene. I'm not interested in making people uncomfortable - It is everyone's cruise, and good manners should operate in both directions.

F

[EatonDoolittle]

AAAhhhh sounds glorious.

 

The add-ons are not available to view for my trip yet (December) , so this is the first I have heard of this pampering.

 

Thanks for giving me a reason to save my pennies between now and then.

[CowPrincess]

A fair number of people would find it inappropriate

 

I re-read this thread, and didn't see a fair number finding it inappropriate. I think people might be surprised a bit, do a double-take, then think "well, it IS the 21st century". The double-take would be due to not having a great deal of experience with same-sex couples, I suspect, NOT a reflection of a bias against same-sex couples. JMHO.

[wander]

Fionan,

 

Thank you for the review! So sorry the weather was so lousy, that certainly does not help a cruise situation, but it happens.

 

I wrote this on another thread but wanted to tell you this. About a year ago I was party to a conversation with a HAL Captain and some passengers. He said that overall his most enjoyable cruises were Olivia charters. He said that after several he found the women friendly, tidy, generally sharp successful women, considerate of each other and full of fun. He said that the one issue it created for his crew was that most of the usually men's restrooms were converted to Women's and that sometimes his officers forgot and barged into the restrooms they were used to using. With private stalls in most this was not a serious problem but embarrassing for the officer.

 

Thought you might appreciate this.

[mrsltg]

Weather can ruin the best of cruises. I speak from experience, my honeymoon cruise was worse than bad.... UUUGGGHHH!

 

Glad you and C had a nice time and felt comfortable dancing together. I guess I must be showing my age (33) because I wouldn't care at all. In fact, one of my proudest parenting moments was about a month or so ago when my two older daughters were playing dolls together. My 3 year old said something to the effect of, "you need a boy and a girl to get married" and my 8 year old replied, "no you don't. A boy can love a boy and girl can love a girl and it doesn't matter as long as the people are happy." My 3 year old replied, "oh yeah. You're right." I thought - PERFECT! So, sadly, you may need to give it 15-20 more years but there are more people coming who really don't care as long as you're happy.